Assessing chronological age of unaccompanied minors in Southern Italy

The increasing volume of, and subsequent complexities resulting from, migratory flows in the broader context of globalization has led to a range of problems, not only the protection of human rights and disease control but also the identification of those with the right to apply for refugee status and the age assessment of unaccompanied minors. Italy is a magnet for immigration from other countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea because the Italian coasts are within easy reach. In Italy, as in other western countries, unaccompanied asylum seekers deemed to be younger than 18 years face a very different path through the immigration system from that experienced by adults. Generally, adults are subject to immediate deportation or detention in jail. Minors are processed through the juvenile system, where detection is not mandatory; they will often have access to educational programs and may be granted a residency permit. The Section of Legal Medicine of the University of Bari was approached by immigration police authorities and judges to explore the possibility of examining unaccompanied asylum seekers, who claim do be younger than 18 years, to assess their age. A group of forensic pathologists and odontologists performed this evaluation relying on the skeletal maturation as seen on radiographs of the wrist and the pelvis for iliac crests and on an orthopantomograph, together with background information and clinical examination of each individual. Case studies are presented. This article does not attempt to give a definitive account of the different scientific methods for the assessment of age. It is important to understand some of the methods that may be used in an attempt to assess developmental maturity and from which it may be possible to ''read off'' an approximate chronological age. © 2011 by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins

Radiographic dental implants recognition for geographic evaluation in human identification

Dental implants for prosthetic rehabilitation with fixed crown or mobile partial/total dentures is a very common oral treatment among the population in Italy as elsewhere. There is a great number of implant systems of different designs. However, a catalogue of radiographic images and a description of the dental implants available in Italy would be useful in order to identify the manufacturer and the type of implant encountered in forensic casework. When an unidentified body is found with one or more implants in the jaws, and no dental record is available, clues gleaned from the type of implants used could give direction to the investigation. In this study Italian implant manufactures were contacted and asked to provide specimen implants. Digital radiographs were taken of all the implants donated at 0°, 30°, and 60° horizontal rotation, combined with -20°, -10°, 0°, +10°, and +20° vertical inclination relative to the radiographic beam and the X-ray sensor. A total of 15 images per implant were taken and examined to identify consistent, unique features that would aid in implant recognition. Only those observations made from radiographs between -10° and +10° vertical inclination would ever be used for definite identification of any implant. The information from this study should be considered a survey of the commercial distribution of dental implants in Italy through their digital radiographic images. It is also a starting point for a wider geographical evaluation of different manufacturers in other countries and continents. The radiographic images provided should help both the forensic odontologist and the prosthodontist to identify pre-existing implants which they may discover from their radiographic images

Influence of masticatory function on food preferences and cognitive performance in centenarians: an observational study

Introduction: Demographic projections forecast that centenarians’ population growth will continue. “CaT: Centenari a Trieste” is an ongoing study featuring the collection of demographic and anamnestic data, including the analysis of oral variables. Aims: evaluate of the possible influence of past food preferences, taste perception and masticatory function on current cognitive status in a cohort of centenarians. Design: Observational transversal study. Materials and Methods: 31 participants with mean age 102 ± 2 performed an examination of the oral cavity including the measurement of DMFT (Decayed Missing Filled Teeth), FTUs (functional teeth units), FOUs (functional occlusal units) and 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP) taste perception assay. Results were correlated with dementia, subjective perception of oral health and food preferences. Results: Masticatory function did not correlate with dementia but had a significant impact on oral health perception. When analyzing variables affecting food preferences, PROP taste perception profile and DMFT resulted significantly correlated. Early edentulism didn’t show to affect past dietary preferences. Conclusions: our data suggest that in centenarians masticatory function doesn’t seem to correlate to cognitive function, but influences the self-perception of oral health. Such results are an interesting addition to knowledge on the topic as they refer to a population which has never been considered before

Solving Nonlinear Parabolic Equations by a Strongly Implicit Finite-Difference Scheme

We discuss the numerical solution of nonlinear parabolic partial differential equations, exhibiting finite speed of propagation, via a strongly implicit finite-difference scheme with formal truncation error $\mathcal{O}\left[(\Delta x)^2 + (\Delta t)^2 \right]$. Our application of interest is the spreading of viscous gravity currents in the study of which these type of differential equations arise. Viscous gravity currents are low Reynolds number (viscous forces dominate inertial forces) flow phenomena in which a dense, viscous fluid displaces a lighter (usually immiscible) fluid. The fluids may be confined by the sidewalls of a channel or propagate in an unconfined two-dimensional (or axisymmetric three-dimensional) geometry. Under the lubrication approximation, the mathematical description of the spreading of these fluids reduces to solving the so-called thin-film equation for the current's shape $h(x,t)$. To solve such nonlinear parabolic equations we propose a finite-difference scheme based on the Crank--Nicolson idea. We implement the scheme for problems involving a single spatial coordinate (i.e., two-dimensional, axisymmetric or spherically-symmetric three-dimensional currents) on an equispaced but staggered grid. We benchmark the scheme against analytical solutions and highlight its strong numerical stability by specifically considering the spreading of non-Newtonian power-law fluids in a variable-width confined channel-like geometry (a "Hele-Shaw cell") subject to a given mass conservation/balance constraint. We show that this constraint can be implemented by re-expressing it as nonlinear flux boundary conditions on the domain's endpoints. Then, we show numerically that the scheme achieves its full second-order accuracy in space and time. We also highlight through numerical simulations how the proposed scheme accurately respects the mass conservation/balance constraint.Comment: 36 pages, 9 figures, Springer book class; v2 includes improvements and corrections; to appear as a contribution in "Applied Wave Mathematics II