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An efficient microbiological decontamination protocol is required to guarantee safe food products for the final consumer to avoid foodborne illnesses. Ultrasound and non-thermal technology combinations represent innovative methods adopted by the food industry for food preservation and safety. Ultrasound power is commonly used with a frequency between 20 and 100 kHz to obtain an “exploit cavitation effect”. Microbial inactivation via ultrasound derives from cell wall damage, the oxidation of intracellular amino acids and DNA changing material. As an inactivation method, it is evaluated alone and combined with other non-thermal technologies. The evidence shows that ultrasound is an important green technology that has a good decontamination effect and can improve the shelf-life of products. This review aims to describe the applicability of ultrasound in the food industry focusing on microbiological decontamination, reducing bacterial alterations caused by food spoilage strains and relative foodborne intoxication/infection.

Hereditary connective tissue disorders (HCTDs) are a heterogeneous group of inherited diseases. These disorders show genetic mutations with loss of function of primary components of connective tissue, such as collagen and elastic fibers. There are more than 200 conditions that involve hereditary connective tissue disorders, while the most known are Marfan syndrome, Osteogenesis Imperfecta, and Ehlers-Danlos syndromes. These disorders need continuous updates, multidisciplinary skills, and specific methodologic evaluations sharing many medicolegal issues. Marfan syndrome and Ehlers-Danlos syndromes show a high risk of early sudden death. As a consequence of this, postmortem genetic testing can identify novel genotype–phenotype correlations which help the clinicians to assess personalized cardiovascular screening programs among the ill subjects. Genetic testing is also essential to identify children suffering from Osteogenesis Imperfecta, especially when a physical abuse is clinically suspected. However, this is a well-known clinical problem even though there are still challenges to interpret genetic data and variants of unknown significance due to the current extensive use of new genetic/genomic techniques. Additionally, the more significant applications and complexities of genomic testing raise novel responsibilities on the clinicians, geneticists, and forensic practitioners as well, increasing potential liability and medical malpractice claims. This systematic review provides a detailed overview on how multidisciplinary skills belonging to clinicians, medicolegal consultants, radiologists, and geneticists can cooperate to manage HCTDs from autopsy or clinical findings to genetic testing. Thus, technical aspects need to be addressed to the medicolegal community since there is no consensus works or guidelines which specifically discuss these issues.

The discovery of new methods for determining the post-mortem interval is of significant forensic interest. Mass spectrometry has enhanced the accuracy of assessing post-mortem protein decay, with skeletal muscle being the most studied substrate due to its intrinsic properties of postmortem decay. In this pilot study, human skeletal muscle tissue (iliopsoas) was harvested and allowed to decay under controlled temperature and humidity conditions at predetermined intervals. The samples were analyzed using mass spectrometry proteomics for both qualitative and quantitative evaluation of proteins and peptides. Candidate proteins were validated through immunoblotting. The results were significant, identifying several proteins that could aid in estimating the post-mortem interval. Notably, PLIN4, MYOZ2, SYNPO2, and BAG3 were validated by immunoblotting over a broader range of experimental points and temperatures. Furthermore, human results were compared with animal muscle samples from a previous study, revealing similarities in decomposition kinetics. This analysis of human samples marks a step forward in the potential forensic application of proteomic evaluation by mass spectrometry. •Proteomic approach seems to be beneficial for PMI estimation.•Mass spectrometry constitutes a significant advancement in the analysis of protein markers for PMI.•The proteins with better PMI kinetics appear to be MYOZ2, HNRNPA2B1 and PDLIM1.

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a zoonotic pathogen, responsible for numerous cases of infection in humans. Transmission occurs through the orofecal route, and ingestion of contaminated foods represents an important risk factor for final consumer’s health. Wild animal species, in particular wild boar (Sus scrofa), are the main virus reservoirs; liver is the target organ, from which, through the hematic diffusion, HEV reaches different tissues and organs, as muscular one. The hygienic-sanitary critical issues connected with game meat food chain in general, and particularly wild boar, with special regards to any geographical area where this animal species can be directly in contact with humans, domestic ones (i.e., domestic pig), and other wild reservoirs (i.e., wild ruminants), finds favorable environmental conditions, have induced us to conduce the present scientific investigation. During the hunting season 2019/2020, a total of 156 wild boar livers were collected from provided plucks at slaughterhouse in Ascoli Piceno. Nested RT-PCR was used for the viral RNA detection. Results demonstrated a positivity of 5.12% (8/156), and the circulation in the screened area of genotype 3 subtype c, which is frequently identified in Central Italy. HEV sanitary relevance and the emerging role of any food chains in its transmission impose further detailed studies. The molecular screening of hunted wild boars’ livers can provide important information about virus’s circulation in wild animal populations in a specific area.

Among invertebrates, spiders are regarded as a model group for sexual selection studies. However, our understanding of their mating behaviour is highly biased towards species in the infraorder Araneomorphae. Knowledge of the mating systems of mygalomorph spiders (infraorder Mygalomorphae) remains rudimentary at best. Here, we report on the mating behaviour of a recently described Australian wishbone spider (Anamidae: Aname inexpecta) from south‐western Western Australia. In doing so, we present the first detailed observations of mating behaviour of a member of the family Anamidae and describe a remarkable, novel male sexual behaviour for mygalomorph spiders (‘burrow plugging’). This behaviour involves the male collecting soil with his chelicerae and placing it over the entrance to the female's burrow, sealing the entrance before actively guarding the plugged retreat. We provide some of the first insights into post‐copulatory mate guarding in burrowing mygalomorph spiders, contributing to our understanding of mating systems in a group where such studies are rare. Araneomorph spiders are regarded as a model group for sexual selection studies, while the mating system of mygalomorph spiders remains largely unknown. We here report on the mating behaviour of an Australian wishbone spider species, involving a novel post‐copulatory behaviour for mygalomorph spiders (‘burrow plugging’). This observation also provides some of the first insights into post‐copulation mate guarding in a group where such behavioural studies are rare.

In different European countries, including Italy, hepatitis E virus (HEV) has been recognized as an emerging public health concern. Humans are infected through the orofecal route by the ingestion of contaminated uncooked or undercooked animal-origin foodstuffs. Wild boars (Sus scrofa) have gained a crucial role as viral reservoirs. HEV-3 is the most frequently identified genotype from hunted wild boar liver and muscle tissues. The Marche region, more specifically Ascoli Piceno province, is characterized by a rooted hunting tradition and related product consumption. In this research study, 312 liver and 296 muscle specimens were screened using biomolecular assays, and HEV RNA was detected from 5.45% and 1.35% of liver and muscle samples, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that positive animals were infected by genotype 3 subtype c. Based on the environmental pathogen characteristics, HEV has also evolved to guarantee its survival in a wild environment. Therefore, wild boars and ruminants have a key role in its persistence. Epidemiological data regarding HEV circulation have resulted as necessary, and biomolecular analysis represents an important means of monitoring and establishing preventive measures. A multidisciplinary approach could provide a wide perspective regarding HEV and infectious implications on human, animal, and environmental health.

Trichinellosis is a globally diffused foodborne parasitic disease caused by nematodes of the Trichinella complex. During evolution, guided by ecological interactions, tural selection, and biochemical “intelligence”, these parasites developed admirable strategies to infect the host’s organism. One of the most fasciting is represented by the nurse cell formation in muscular tissue (e.g., diaphragm, skeletal muscle, extrinsic ocular muscles, etc.). This strategy allowed the parasite to adapt and conquer the wider host species spectrum, including ungulates and humans. Consumption of undercooked meat from infected wild ungulates constitutes the most important source of infection for the human species. In this study, we show the prevalence of Trichinella spp. in hunted wild boars (Sus scrofa) in Central Italy. During the hunting season 2021/2022 in the province of Rieti, 554 wild boar diaphragm biopsies were collected for Trichinella spp. screening, in accordance with Regulation EU 1375/2015. An artificial digestion method was used for the detection of Trichinella spp. larval forms. The results revealed a positivity of 0.18% (1/554), and molecular biology identification demonstrated the presence of Trichinella britovi in the positive sample. This species is the most diffused in wild ungulate populations in Central Italy and the most frequently isolated in human patients with trichinellosis from this area, showing a close epidemiological relation between Homo sapiens and Sus scrofa for Trichinella spp. diffusion in an ecosystem. Epidemiological surveillance, in receptive animal species destined for human consumption and at any One Health level, represents the main “winning” strategy in the control of this worldwide, widespread foodborne parasitic disease.

Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is a major public health problem to be addressed with innovative and interconnecting strategies for ensuring the psychophysical health of the surviving woman. According to the World Health Organization, 27% of women worldwide have experienced physical and sexual IPV in their lifetime. Most of the studies on gender-based violence focus on short-term effects, while long-term effects are often marginally included even though they represent the most serious and complex consequences. The molecular mechanisms underlying stress-related disorders in IPV victims are multiple and include dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, inflammatory response, epigenetic modifications, neurotransmitter imbalances, structural changes in the brain, and oxidative stress. This review aims to explore the long-term health consequences of intimate partner violence (IPV), emphasizing the biological and psychological mechanisms underlying stress-related disorders and resilience. By integrating findings from epigenetics, microbiome research, and artificial intelligence (AI)-based data analysis, we highlight novel strategies for mitigating IPV-related trauma and improving recovery pathways. Genome-wide environment interaction studies, enhanced by AI-assisted data analysis, offer a promising public health approach for identifying factors that contribute to stress-related disorders and those that promote resilience, thus guiding more effective prevention and intervention strategies.

The intradiaphragmatic localization of an abscess is rarely described in humans and in other animal domestic and wild species, and can be caused by penetrative traumas (i.e., firearm injuries). Here we describe two intradiaphragmatic abscesses in a hunted adult male wild boar (Sus scrofa) pluck, associated with adhesion phenomena with the contiguous anatomical structures (pleural, phrenic, and glissonian serosas) and observed during the post mortem inspection, in accordance with the Reg. EU 627/2019. One of these lesions also presented a phreno-abdominal fistula. We found in cytopathological evaluation of the neoformations’ content the presence of spheroidal bacterial soma, characterized by linearly concatenated “Streptococcus-like” aggregation pattern. Furthermore, microbiological assays revealed a polymicrobial pattern characterized by the presence of telluric microorganisms, some of which have a marked pyogenic action (Streptococcus suis type I, Sphingomonas paucimobilis, Carnobacterium divergens, and Lactobacillus sakei). Our results and collected evidence demonstrate the pathogenetic hypothesis of bacterial contamination secondary to penetrative trauma caused by a not-mortal projectile’s wound, defining the inspective behaviour according to the cogent legislation. These lesions, in the reason of their potential relation to toxemia, bacteremia and septicemia phenomena, represent a sanitary risk that impose, from a normative point of view, the total condemnation of the carcass. These inspective implications, originating from the observation and interdisciplinary description of the anatomopathological and microbiological features of the lesions, are directly projected on the normative scenario, providing useful elements to guarantee the health of the consumer.

Background Chronic intestinal pseudo-obstruction (CIPO) is a rare clinical syndrome in veterinary medicine characterized by severe intestinal dysmotility without evidence of mechanical occlusion of the intestinal lumen. The exact pathogenesis of CIPO is unknown. Case presentation A 1-year-old male Miniature Bull Terrier dog was presented with a history of chronic weight loss, regurgitation, lethargy, vomiting and diarrhea. The dog was submitted for exploratory laparotomy. A full thickness intestinal biopsy was taken and a CIPO was suspected. The clinical condition deteriorated and the dog was euthanized. At gross examination the small intestine was severely dilated. Histologically severe fibrosis of the submucosa and severe atrophy of the tunica muscularis were present in small intestine and colon. Immunohistochemical examination with a panel of antibodies for gastro-intestinal neuromuscular disease-associated antigens revealed a severely reduced expression of alpha-smooth muscle actin in the tunica muscularis. Conclusions This case report describes the gross, histological and immunohistochemical findings of CIPO affecting a 1-year-old Miniature Bull Terrier; on the basis of these findings a myopathic form of CIPO is hypothesized in this case.