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Background: Numerous megafauna species from northern latitudes went extinct during the Pleistocene/Holocene transition as a result of climate-induced habitat changes. However, several ungulate species managed to successfully track their habitats during this period to eventually flourish and recolonise the holarctic regions. So far, the genomic impacts of these climate fluctuations on ungulates from high latitudes have been little explored. Here, we assemble a de-novo genome for the European moose (Alces alces) and analyse it together with re-sequenced nuclear genomes and ancient and modern mitogenomes from across the moose range in Eurasia and North America. Results: We found that moose demographic history was greatly influenced by glacial cycles, with demographic responses to the Pleistocene/Holocene transition similar to other temperate ungulates. Our results further support that modern moose lineages trace their origin back to populations that inhabited distinct glacial refugia during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Finally, we found that present day moose in Europe and North America show low to moderate inbreeding levels resulting from post-glacial bottlenecks and founder effects, but no evidence for recent inbreeding resulting from human-induced population declines. Conclusions: Taken together, our results highlight the dynamic recent evolutionary history of the moose and provide an important resource for further genomic studies.

This paper presents new osteometric and stable isotope evidence of Sámi reindeer offerings. Previous archaeological studies have shown that reindeer domestication and intensification of reindeer herding transformed Sámi indigenous religion. However, because of the methodological challenges in the identification of wild and domesticated reindeer in the archaeological record, the exact nature of the relationship between people and offered reindeer has remained elusive. To address this problem, we analyze zooarchaeological and stable isotope data from thirteen Sámi offering sites situated in Finland and Sweden and dating to c. 1200–1700 CE. We employ zooarchaeological analysis of age, sex and size and explore the possibilities of these analyses to identify domestication and other characteristics of reindeer selected for offering. Analyses of stable isotopes of carbon, nitrogen and sulphur are utilized to identify human influence on reindeer feeding patterns and mobility. Our results show that many kinds of reindeer with different engagements with people were offered. The results confirm that people had different motives for giving offerings and that a simple dichotomy of wild/domesticated does not adequately reflect the range of relationships the Sámi had with reindeer.

OBJECTIVES: To compare cumulative ionizing radiation in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) for the years 2001-2011. To study how radiation exposure change over time in patients with newly diagnosed IBD and factors associated with radiation exposure. MATERIAL AND METHODS: All radiological investigations performed between 1 January 2001 and 31 December 2011 were retrospectively recorded in patients with Crohn's disease (CD) (n = 103), ulcerative colitis (UC) (n = 304) and IBS (n = 149). Analyses were done with Mann-Whitney and Chi-Square test. RESULTS: The median total cumulative radiation exposure in mSv for CD (20.0, inter quartile range (IQR) 34.8), UC (7.01, IQR 23.8), IBS (2.71, IQR 9.15) and the proportion of patients who had been exposed for more than 50 mSv during the study period (CD 19%, UC 11%, IBS 3%) were significantly higher in the patients with CD compared to patients with UC (p < .001) and IBS (p < .001), respectively. In turn, patients with UC had significantly higher doses than patients with IBS (p = .005). Risk factors for radiation exposure were female gender (CD), early onset (UC), ileocolonic location (CD), previous surgery (CD and UC), depression (IBS) and widespread pain (IBS). In newly diagnosed CD, there was a significant decline in median cumulative radiation dose in mSv (17.2 vs. 12.0; p = .048) during the study period. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with CD are at greatest risk for high cumulative radiation exposure, but there is a decline in exposure during the late 2000s. Non-colectomized patients with UC and patients with IBS have a relatively low risk of cumulative radiation exposure.

Part of urn:nbn:se:su:diva-10

Part of urn:nbn:se:su:diva-10

Part of urn:nbn:se:su:diva-10

The current phylogeographic pattern of European brown bears (Ursus arctos) has commonly been explained by postglacial recolonization out of geographically distinct refugia in southern Europe, a pattern well in accordance with the expansion/contraction model. Studies of ancient DNA from brown bear remains have questioned this pattern, but have failed to explain the glacial distribution of mitochondrial brown bear clades and their subsequent expansion across the European continent. We here present 136 new mitochondrial sequences generated from 346 remains from Europe, ranging in age between the Late Pleistocene and historical times. The genetic data show a high Late Pleistocene diversity across the continent and challenge the strict confinement of bears to traditional southern refugia during the last glacial maximum (LGM). The mitochondrial data further suggest a genetic turnover just before this time, as well as a steep demographic decline starting in the mid-Holocene. Levels of stable nitrogen isotopes from the remains confirm a previously proposed shift toward increasing herbivory around the LGM in Europe. Overall, these results suggest that in addition to climate, anthropogenic impact and inter-specific competition may have had more important effects on the brown bear's ecology, demography, and genetic structure than previously thought.