Nootropics use in the workplace: psychiatric and ethical aftermath towards the new frontier of bioengineering.

OBJECTIVE: The authors have sought to expound upon and shed a light on the rise of nootropics, which have gradually taken on a more and more relevant role in workplaces and academic settings. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Multidisciplinary databases have been delved into by entering the following keys: "nootropics", "cognitive enhancement", "workplace", "productivity", "ethics", "bioengineering". In addition, a broad-ranging search has been undertaken on institutional websites in order to identify relevant analysis and recommendations issued by international institutions and agencies. Papers and reports have been independently pored over by each author. This search strategy has led to the identification of 988 sources but only 64 were considered appropriate for the purposes of the paper after being selected by at least 3 of the authors, independently. RESULTS: The notion of an artificially enhanced work performance - carried out by the 'superworker' - is particularly noteworthy and resonates with the conception of contemporary work on so many different levels: the rising need and demands for higher degrees of flexibility and productivity on the job, the implications of a '24/7' society, where more and more services are available at any time, the ever greater emphasis on entrepreneurial spirit, individual self-reliance and self-improvement, and last but not least, the impact of an ageing society on economic standards and performance. CONCLUSIONS: Moreover, it is worth mentioning that human enhancement technologies will predictably and increasingly go hand in hand with gene editing, bioengineering, cybernetics and nanotechnology. Applications are virtually boundless, and may ultimately affect all human traits (physical strength, endurance, vision, intelligence and even personality and mood).

Letter to the editor in response to "Medically-assisted procreation and the rise of off-center, new types of "parenthood": it is incumbent upon lawmakers to intervene".

The present letter is meant as a response to the commentary titled "Medically-assisted procreation and the rise of off-center, new types of "parenthood": it is incumbent upon lawmakers to intervene", which was published in issue 4, 2019, of the La Clinica Terapeutica journal. Newly available reproductive techniques have given rise to new opportunities to fulfill one's wishes for parenthood. Such developments have caused procreation to be perceived as a right, intended as the right to «artificial¼ procreation. Not only do such trends impact those couples who travel abroad in order to have children through heterologous fertilization and surrogacy: singles and same-sex couples pursue those avenues as well in order to become parents. In the article which we are commenting upon, the author has perused the evolving jurisprudence on that subject, pointing out how necessary it is for lawmakers to step in and clearly define the rights of all parties involved, minors in particular.

Medico-legal aspects of tort law patient safeguards within the Gelli-Bianco piece of legislation.

The authors aim to put into context the recently passed piece of Italian legislation known as "Gelli-Bianco", in an effort to highlight the root causes and the underlying motives that led to its enactment. The new law's innovative aspects are elaborated on, in terms of treatment safety and civil liability of health care professional and providers. The report's main purpose is to shed light on the alleged benefits, against the backdrop of the worrisome data from recent years, gathered from case-based analysis of adverse events and related costs, without overlooking the likely challenges associated with innovations that are meant to affect complex systems with conflicting interests at play.

Death due to crush injuries in a compactor truck: vitality assessment by immunohistochemistry.

We present a case in which the timing of injuries was requested to determine whether the death of a man found in a landfill was due to homicide or accident. The use of immunohistochemistry to detect P-selectin and E-selectin on endothelial cells of vessels in damaged skin samples, and compare them with intact skin samples, as well as the presence of lung adipose embolism provide information on the timing of the injury, thereby helping substantially to identify the dynamics of death.

Pulmonary embolisation of bone fragments from penetrating cranial gunshot wounds.

Bone embolism is a very rare event that usually occurs in trauma-induced septic bone lesions, after bone surgery or after bone marrow transplantation, and normally remains silent. To our knowledge, there are no previous reports of bone embolism after a gunshot to the head. We describe a case of pulmonary embolism associated with bone fragments after a gunshot to the head in which bone fragments surrounded by leukocytes, interstitial and intra-alveolar oedema and haemorrhage around the embolised vessels, leukostasis and fat and bone marrow embolism suggest that the survival time from the gunshot was sufficiently long to allow changes in lung microcirculation and lung tissue.

Wounds inflicted by survival-knives.

A homicidal fatality is presented to demonstrate that the pattern of injuries may suggest the use of an unusual sharp force, a survival-knife, the characteristics of which are in any case well defined. This knife has saw teeth along the back that can leave characteristic scrape marks on the skin.

Hanging in an automobile: a report on a unique case history.

A "real" case of suicidal hanging in an automobile is presented and discussed. To the best of our knowledge, there does not exist in the medical literature another case history meeting the exact pathological-forensic criteria of a hanging inside an automobile.

[Simulated powder tattooing in gunshots through glass plates]. / Vortäuschung von Pulvereinsprengungen bei Schüssen durch Glasscheiben.

A case of homicide (two shots through a sheet of glass) is reported with regard to "pseudo-powder-tattooing" (irregular stippling of skin due to fragments of glass). The findings are compared with real powder-tattooing as seen in cases of intermediate-range gunshot wounds.

Mineral fibres and dusts in lungs of subjects living in an urban environment.

We have undertaken a study on 200 autopsy lung samples collected from subjects who lived in the Rome urban area and were not occupationally exposed to mineral dusts. The samples belonged to subjects who died aged between 15 and 65, both male and female. Subjects suffering from diseases and drug addicts were excluded. The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether any correlation existed between subjects' life-style, in particular smoking habits, and the presence of mineral fibres and dusts in their lungs. The data obtained were compared with those on airborne mineral dusts in the environment of the subjects themselves, particularly data on the concentration and types of mineral fibres present in that environment.