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Background: Individuals who suffer from mental illness are more prone to obesity and related co-morbidities, including the metabolic syndrome. Autopsies provide an outstanding platform for the macroscopic, microscopic and molecular-biological investigation of diseases. Autopsy-based findings may assist in the investigation of the metabolic syndrome. To utilise the vast information that an autopsy encompasses to elucidate the pathophysiology behind the syndrome further, we aimed to both develop and evaluate a method for the post mortem definition of the metabolic syndrome.Methods: Based on the nationwide Danish SURVIVE study of deceased mentally ill, we established a set of post mortem criteria for each of the harmonized criteria of the metabolic syndrome. We based the post mortem (PM) evaluation on information from the police reports and the data collected at autopsy, such as anthropometric measurements and biochemical and toxicological analyses (PM information). We compared our PM evaluation with the data from the Danish health registries [ante mortem (AM) information, considered the gold standard] from each individual.Results: The study included 443 deceased individuals (272 male and 171 female) with a mean age of 50.4 (± 15.5) years and a median (interquartile range) post mortem interval of 114 (84-156) hours. We found no significant difference when defining the metabolic syndrome from the PM information in comparison to the AM information (P = 0.175). The PM evaluation yielded a high specificity (0.93) and a moderate sensitivity (0.63) with a moderate level of agreement compared to the AM evaluation (Cohen's κ = 0.51). Neither age nor post mortem interval affected the final results.Conclusions: Our model of a PM definition of the metabolic syndrome proved reliable when compared to the AM information. We believe that an appropriate estimate of the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome can be established post mortem. However, while neither t

Human parvovirus B19 (B19V) is a ubiquitous human pathogen associated with a number of conditions, such as fifth disease in children and arthritis and arthralgias in adults. B19V is thought to evolve exceptionally rapidly among DNA viruses, with substitution rates previously estimated to be closer to those typical of RNA viruses. On the basis of genetic sequences up to similar to 70 years of age, the most recent common ancestor of all B19V has been dated to the early 1800s, and it has been suggested that genotype 1, the most common B19V genotype, only started circulating in the 1960s. Here we present 10 genomes (63.9-99.7% genome coverage) of B19V from dental and skeletal remains of individuals who lived in Eurasia and Greenland from similar to 0.5 to similar to 6.9 thousand years ago (kya). In a phylogenetic analysis, five of the ancient B19V sequences fall within or basal to the modern genotype 1, and five fall basal to genotype 2, showing a long-term association of B19V with humans. The most recent common ancestor of all B19V is placed similar to 12.6 kya, and we find a substitution rate that is an order of magnitude lower than inferred previously. Further, we are able to date the recombination event between genotypes 1 and 3 that formed genotype 2 to similar to 5.0-6.8 kya. This study emphasizes the importance of ancient viral sequences for our understanding of virus evolution and phylogenetics.

The virtual approach in physical and forensic anthropology is increasingly used to further analyze human remains, but also to propose new didactic means for visualization and dissemination of scientific results. Computerized facial approximation (FA) offers an alternative to manual methods, but usually requires a complete facial skeleton to allow for the estimation of the facial appearance of an individual. This paper presents the case of Tycho Brahe, Danish astronomer born during the XVIth century, whose remains were reanalyzed at the occasion of a short exhumation in 2010. Cranial remains of Brahe were poorly preserved, with only a partial facial skeleton, and virtual anthropology tools were used to estimate the missing parts of his skull. This 3D restoration was followed by a FA using TIVMI-AFA3D, subsequently textured with graphic tools. The result provided an interesting estimate that was compared with portraits of the astronomer. The impact of the missing data estimation was investigated by performing FAs on 10 complete test subjects and the same 10 subjects after cropping and estimating 50% of the landmarks (reproducing the preservation state of Tycho Brahe's cranial remains). The comparison between the FA based on the complete and incomplete skulls of the same subject produced a visual assessment of the estimation impact on FAs which is relatively low. This procedure is an alternative to manual methods and offers a reproducible estimate of a face based on incomplete cranial remains. Although the case report concerns a historical individual, the robust automatic estimation of missing landmarks followed by a FA has value for forensic caseworks as a support to the identification process.

Studies of the peopling of the Americas have focused on the timing and number of initial migrations. Less attention has been paid to the subsequent spread of people within the Americas. We sequenced 15 ancient human genomes spanning from Alaska to Patagonia; six are ≥10,000 years old (up to ~18× coverage). All are most closely related to Native Americans, including those from an Ancient Beringian individual and two morphologically distinct "Paleoamericans." We found evidence of rapid dispersal and early diversification that included previously unknown groups as people moved south. This resulted in multiple independent, geographically uneven migrations, including one that provides clues of a Late Pleistocene Australasian genetic signal, as well as a later Mesoamerican-related expansion. These led to complex and dynamic population histories from North to South America.

The composition of ancient oral microbiomes has recently become accessible owing to advanced biomolecular methods such as metagenomics and metaproteomics, but the utility of metaproteomics for such analyses is less explored. Here, we use quantitative metaproteomics to characterize the dental calculus associated with the remains of 21 humans retrieved during the archeological excavation of the medieval (ca. 1100-1450 CE) cemetery of Tjærby, Denmark. We identify 3671 protein groups, covering 220 bacterial species and 81 genera across all medieval samples. The metaproteome profiles of bacterial and human proteins suggest two distinct groups of archeological remains corresponding to health-predisposed and oral disease-susceptible individuals, which is supported by comparison to the calculus metaproteomes of healthy living individuals. Notably, the groupings identified by metaproteomics are not apparent from the bioarchaeological analysis, illustrating that quantitative metaproteomics has the potential to provide additional levels of molecular information about the oral health status of individuals from archeological contexts.

The exhumation of Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe (1546-1601) was performed in 2010 to verify speculative views on the cause of his death. Previous analyses of skeletal and hair remains recovered from his grave refuted the presumption that he died from poisoning. These studies also outlined the possibility that he actually died from an acute illness, echoing the rather vague and inaccurate testimony of some historical records. We performed a detailed paleopathological analysis of Tycho Brahe's skeletal remains, along with a reconstruction of his diet based on carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes analysis and an estimate of his physical status (relative body fat) based on medullar and cortical dimensions of the femoral shaft. The astronomer's remains exhibit bone changes indicative of diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH). The study further allows us to classify him as obese (100% reliability according to our decision tree designed from Danish males), and points out his rich diet (high input of animal protein and/or marine resources) and high social status. Comorbidities of DISH and obesity are reviewed, and their influence on health status is discussed. We further consider some conditions associated with metabolic syndrome as possible causes of Tycho Brahe's final symptoms (urinary retention, renal failure and coma), including diabetes, alcoholic ketoacidosis and benign prostatic hypertrophy. Although a definite and specific diagnosis cannot be established, our study points to today's civilization diseases often associated with DISH and metabolic syndrome as the possible cause of death of Tycho Brahe.

Estimating an individual body mass (BM) from the skeleton is a challenge for forensic anthropology. However, identifying someone's BMI (Body Mass Index) category, i.e. underweight, normal, overweight or obese, could contribute to identification. Individual BM is also known to influence the age-at-death estimation from the skeleton. Several methods are regularly used by both archaeologists and forensic practitioners to estimate individual BM. The most commonly used methods are based on femoral head breadth, or stature and bi-iliac breadth. However, those methods have been created from mean population BMs and are therefore meant to estimate the average BM of a population. Being that they are based on individual BM data and estimated femoral cortical areas, the newest published methods are supposed to be more accurate. We evaluated the accuracy and reliability of the most commonly used and most recent BM estimation methods (n=11) on a sample of 64 individuals. Both sexes and all BMI categories are represented, as well as a wide range of BM. Ages in this sample range from 20 to 87 years of age. Absolute and real differences between actual BM and estimated BM were assessed; they determined the accuracy for individual BM estimation and for average BM estimation of a population, respectively. The proportion of the sample whose estimated BM falls within ±10% and ±20% of their actual BM determines the reliability of the methods in our sample for, respectively, individual BM estimation and average BM of a population. The tested methods result in an absolute difference of 11kg-26kg±10kg with regards to prediction of individuals actual BM. The real differences are very variable from method to method, ranging from -14kg to 25kg. None of the tested methods is able to estimate BM of half of the sample within ±10% of their actual BM but most of them can estimate BM of more than half of the sample within ±20% of their actual BM. The errors increase with increasing BM, demonstrati

Epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) may play a role in the development of coronary artery disease. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a method based on postmortem computed tomography (PMCT) for the estimation of EAT volume. We PMCT-scanned the eviscerated hearts of 144 deceased individuals, who underwent a medicolegal autopsy. Using Mimics® we performed segmentation of the images and obtained the volumes of EAT and myocardium. Total heart volume was calculated by adding the volumes of EAT and myocardium. Total heart weight, including EAT, myocardium and attached vessels, was measured during autopsy. Inter-observer analysis was performed on 30 randomly chosen subjects. We included 132 individuals in the results (age range: 22-94 years; 56% men). Twelve individuals were excluded due to inadequate PMCT scanning. Median EAT volume was 73.0 mL (Interquartile range; IQR: 45.6-113.7 mL) in men and 64.8 mL (IQR: 44.0-98.0 mL) in women, which accounted for 20.4 ± 10.2% and 21.9 ± 9.5% of total heart volume, respectively. This corresponded with former autopsy studies. Total heart volume measured by PMCT was highly correlated with heart weight (R(2) = 90%). Mean inter-observer difference of EAT volume was -1.7 mL (95% limits of agreement: -37.0-33.6 mL), with an Intra Class Correlation of 0.91. It was possible to estimate EAT volume using PMCT on eviscerated human hearts. Our method was fast and accurate with good inter-observer agreement. This is a useful method to determine EAT at autopsy, and we will apply this method in future research.

Establishing the age at which prehistoric individuals move away from their childhood residential location holds crucial information about the socio dynamics and mobility patterns in ancient societies. We present a novel combination of strontium isotope analyses performed on the over 3000 year old "Skrydstrup Woman" from Denmark, for whom we compiled a highly detailed month-scale model of her migration timeline. When combined with physical anthropological analyses this timeline can be related to the chronological age at which the residential location changed. We conducted a series of high-resolution strontium isotope analyses of hard and soft human tissues and combined these with anthropological investigations including CT-scanning and 3D visualizations. The Skrydstrup Woman lived during a pan-European period characterized by technical innovation and great social transformations stimulated by long-distance connections; consequently she represents an important part of both Danish and European prehistory. Our multidisciplinary study involves complementary biochemical, biomolecular and microscopy analyses of her scalp hair. Our results reveal that the Skrydstrup Woman was between 17-18 years old when she died, and that she moved from her place of origin -outside present day Denmark- to the Skrydstrup area in Denmark 47 to 42 months before she died. Hence, she was between 13 to 14 years old when she migrated to and resided in the area around Skrydstrup for the rest of her life. From an archaeological standpoint, this one-time and one-way movement of an elite female during the possible "age of marriageability" might suggest that she migrated with the aim of establishing an alliance between chiefdoms. Consequently, this detailed multidisciplinary investigation provides a novel tool to reconstruct high resolution chronology of individual mobility with the perspective of studying complex patterns of social and economic interaction in prehistory.

Large-scale genomic analyses of ancient human populations have become feasible partly due to refined sampling methods. The inner part of petrous bones and the cementum layer in teeth roots are currently recognized as the best substrates for such research. We present a comparative analysis of DNA preservation in these two substrates obtained from the same human skulls, across a range of different ages and preservation environments. Both substrates display significantly higher endogenous DNA content (average of 16.4% and 40.0% for teeth and petrous bones, respectively) than parietal skull bone (average of 2.2%). Despite sample-to-sample variation, petrous bone overall performs better than tooth cementum (p = 0.001). This difference, however, is driven largely by a cluster of viking skeletons from one particular locality, showing relatively poor molecular tooth preservation (<10% endogenous DNA). In the remaining skeletons there is no systematic difference between the two substrates. A crude preservation (good/bad) applied to each sample prior to DNA-extraction predicted the above/below 10% endogenous DNA threshold in 80% of the cases. Interestingly, we observe signficantly higher levels of cytosine to thymine deamination damage and lower proportions of mitochondrial/nuclear DNA in petrous bone compared to tooth cementum. Lastly, we show that petrous bones from ancient cremated individuals contain no measurable levels of authentic human DNA. Based on these findings we discuss the pros and cons of sampling the different elements.

Calculation of the estimated body surface area (BSA) by body height and weight has been a challenge in the past centuries due to lack of a well-documented gold standard. More recently, available techniques such as 3D laser surface scanning and CT scanning may be expected to quantify the BSA in an easier and more accurate way. This study provides the first comparison between BSA obtained from post-mortem whole-body CT scans and BSA calculated by nine predictive formulae. The sample consisted of 54 male cadavers ranging from 20 to 87 years old. 3D reconstructions were generated from CT scans using Mimics software, and BSA values were automatically extracted from the program. They were compared with nine predictive equations from the literature. Remarkably, close correlations (r > 0·90) were found between BSA values from CT scans and those from the predictive formulae. A mean BSA of the 54 cadavers of 1·84-1·87 m(2) was calculated by all formulae except one, SD values varying between 0·171 and 0·223 m(2) . T-tests revealed significant differences between mean BSA values calculated with CT and three of the formulae. Regression analyses showed intercepts >(0;0) and slopes <1·0 using all predictive equations, with the CT scan determination as gold standard. It is concluded that DuBois and DuBois' equation can be safely used in normal-weight male subjects with high accuracy, but it seems likely that BSA is underestimated in underweight subjects and overestimated in overweight individuals. Creation of new formulae specific for overweight subjects and children may be needed.