China 
Africa 
Explore chapters and articles related to this topic
Thin-Layer Chromatography in Forensic Toxicology
Published in Bernard Fried, Joseph Sherma, Practical Thin-Layer Chromatography, 2017
Screening and confirmation of the major drugs of abuse in urine samples are the basic duties of forensic toxicology laboratories, and particularly in the United States, many laboratories specialize in this area.20,109 Previously TLC was very much involved in the screening step, but immunoassays, especially the enzyme-multiplied immunoassay technique (Emit by Syva, San Jose, CA) and the fluorescence polarization immunoassay (TDx by Abbott, Irving, TX), largely replaced TLC in the 1980s because they are easier to use and standardize than manual TLC.
Road traffic deaths: A retrospective analysis (2009–2019) in the north of the Italian region Emilia Romagna
Published in Traffic Injury Prevention, 2022
L. Anzillotti, S. Dagoli, L. Calò, G. Maglietta, R. Cecchi
A retrospective evaluation of data related to subjects who died following road accident between 2009 and 2019 in the Italian provinces of Parma, Reggio–Emilia, and Piacenza was performed. All autopsy reports were retrieved from the archives of the Unit of Legal Medicine of the Department of Medicine and Surgery of Parma University and were evaluated to identify cases in which only fatal road accident could be defined as the cause of death. All subjects of all ages, either as the driver, as passengers of the vehicle involved, or as pedestrians run over, were considered for the inclusion criteria. In all drivers, the possible involvement of alcohol, illicit drugs, and medicinal drugs with the accident that caused their death was investigated. The presence of substances was also categorized in subpopulations grouped according to gender, age, and crash time. All types of motorized vehicles were included (moped, motorcycle, car, truck). Various data were analyzed regarding the subjects involved and the circumstances of the accident, maintaining complete anonymity. The main variables in the data sets were age of subjects; date and time of crash, subdivided into 4 time frames: week days (Monday to Friday), weekend (Saturday and Sunday), daytime (6:00 a.m.–8:00 p.m.) nighttime (8:01 p.m.–5:59 a.m.); gender; nationality; alcohol positivity; illicit drugs positivity; medicinal drugs positivity; and, finally, the cause of death and autopsy date. For the purpose of this study, the population was divided into 4 different age groups, namely, <26, 26–45, 46–65, and ≥66 years of age. Toxicological analyses were performed as follows: the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) was obtained through headspace gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry; for illicit drugs and medicinal drugs, a screening analysis with an enzyme multiplied immunoassay technique was performed on blood to detect the most common panel of drugs of abuse or xenobiotic; a confirmation analysis was performed by means of hyphenated techniques (gas chromatography–mass spectrometry and liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry). According to the National Street Code, the following BACs were used to identify positive samples: 0.1–0.5, 0.51–0.8, 0.81–1.5, and > 1.5 g/L. The legal limit of BAC is 0.5 g/L (RTL n. 285 of April 30, 1992). Increasing BAC results in more severe sanctions. All blood samples were collected during the autopsies. In case of positive results, medical emergency records were analyzed in order to define whether the drugs were administered during medical emergency assistance. For all subjects who tested positive for drugs, medical emergency records did not show the use of drugs. The target substances are listed in Table A1 (see online supplement).