Domestic violence is a global public health problem. It takes many different forms and leads to significant physical and psychological consequences for the victim and the whole family. Situations that may prompt episodes of violence in the family include stress, emotional disappointment, economic factors, bad and cramped housing, and alcohol or drug abuse. How does the government’s forced home isolation to contain Covid-19 infections impact on this type of abuse? Numerous articles have reported a decrease in reports of domestic violence since quarantine began but how reliable is these data? Is it a potential wake-up call for public institutions? We discuss the risks associated with quarantine measures during the pandemic and suggest the measures to prevent and improve the reporting of abuse cases.

The International League against Epilepsy (ILAE) proposed a diagnostic scheme for psychogenic non‐epileptic seizure (PNES). The debate on ethical aspects of the diagnostic procedures is ongoing, the treatment is not standardized and management might differ according to age group. The objective was to reach an expert and stakeholder consensus on PNES management. A board comprising adult and child neurologists, neuropsychologists, psychiatrists, pharmacologists, experts in forensic medicine and bioethics as well as patients’ representatives was formed. The board chose five main topics regarding PNES: diagnosis; ethical issues; psychiatric comorbidities; psychological treatment; and pharmacological treatment. After a systematic review of the literature, the board met in a consensus conference in Catanzaro (Italy). Further consultations using a model of Delphi panel were held. The global level of evidence for all topics was low. Even though most questions were formulated separately for children/adolescents and adults, no major age‐related differences emerged. The board established that the approach to PNES diagnosis should comply with ILAE recommendations. Seizure induction was considered ethical, preferring the least invasive techniques. The board recommended looking carefully for mood disturbances, personality disorders and psychic trauma in persons with PNES and considering cognitive‐behavioural therapy as a first‐line psychological approach and pharmacological treatment to manage comorbid conditions, namely anxiety and depression. Psychogenic non‐epileptic seizure management should be multidisciplinary. High‐quality long‐term studies are needed to standardize PNES management.

Our results demonstrate the direct involvement of MMP-12 in native aortic valve stenosis. MMP-mediated degradation of elastic fibres might contribute actively to valve mineralization by inducing calcium deposition onto fragmented elastin.

Brain damage is a complex dysfunction that involves a variety of conditions whose pathogenesis involves a number of mediators that lead to clinical sequelae. For this reason, the identification of specific circulating and/or tissue biomarkers which could indicate brain injury is challenging. This experimental study focused on microRNAs (miRNAs), a well-known diagnostic tool both in the clinical setting and in medico-legal investigation. Previous studies demonstrated that specific miRNAs (miR-21, miR-34, miR-124, miR-132, and miR-200b) control important target genes involved in neuronal apoptosis and neuronal stress-induced adaptation. Thus, in this experimental setting, their expression was evaluated in three selected groups of cadavers: drug abusers (cocaine), ischemic-stroke-related deaths, and aging damage in elder people who died from other neurological causes. The results demonstrated that the drug abuser group showed a higher expression of miR-132 and miR-34, suggesting a specific pathway in consumption-induced neurodegeneration. Instead, miR-200b and miR-21 dysregulation was linked to age-related cognitive impairment, and finally, stroke events and consequences were associated with an alteration in miR-200b, miR-21, and miR-124; significantly higher levels of this last expression are strongly sensitive for ischemic damage. Moreover, these results suggest that these expression patterns could be studied in other biological samples (plasma, urine) in subjects with brain injury linked to aging, drug abuse, and stroke to identify reliable biomarkers that could be applied in clinical practice. Further studies with larger samples are needed to confirm these interesting findings.