Bog Bodies Investigated in the Light of Forensic Medicine

Bog Bodies Investigated in the Light of Forensic Medicin

CD55 Deficiency Protects against Atherosclerosis in ApoE-Deficient Mice via C3a Modulation of Lipid Metabolism

Atherosclerosis, the leading cause of death in the Western world, is driven by chronic inflammation within the artery wall. Elements of the complement cascade are implicated in the pathogenesis, because complement proteins and their activation products are found in the atherosclerotic plaque. We examined the role of CD55, a membrane inhibitor of the complement component 3 (C3) convertase, which converts C3 into C3a and C3b, in atherosclerosis. CD55-deficient (CD55−/−) mice were crossed onto the atherosclerosis-prone apolipoprotein E (apoE)-deficient (apoE−/−) background. High fat–fed male apoE−/−/CD55−/− mice were strongly protected from developing atherosclerosis compared with apoE−/− controls. Lipid profiling showed significantly lower levels of triglycerides, nonesterified fatty acids, and cholesterol in apoE−/−/CD55−/− mice than that in controls after high-fat feeding, whereas body fat in apoE−/−/CD55−/− mice content was increased. Plasma levels of C3 fell, whereas concentrations of C3adesArg (alias acylation stimulating protein; ASP), produced by serum carboxypeptidase N–mediated desargination of C3a, increased in nonfasted high fat–fed apoE−/−/CD55−/− mice, indicating complement activation. Thus, complement dysregulation in the absence of CD55 provoked increased C3adesArg production that, in turn, caused altered lipid handling, resulting in atheroprotection and increased adiposity. Interventions that target complement activation in adipose tissue should be explored as lipid-decreasing strategies

Towards MerMEId 2.0

The “Metadata Editor and Repository for MEI Data” (MerMEId) is a web-based tool to capture and enrich data in the MEI header. This tool was originally developed by Axel Teich Geertinger and Sigfrid Lundberg at the “Danish Centre for Music Editing”, under an open-source license. This poster describes the transfer of this project to community-based releases by members of the MerMEId community with a formal governance structure, towards a true open-source community venture

A perspective on SIDS pathogenesis. The hypotheses: plausibility and evidence

Several theories of the underlying mechanisms of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) have been proposed. These theories have born relatively narrow beach-head research programs attracting generous research funding sustained for many years at expense to the public purse. This perspective endeavors to critically examine the evidence and bases of these theories and determine their plausibility; and questions whether or not a safe and reasoned hypothesis lies at their foundation. The Opinion sets specific criteria by asking the following questions: 1. Does the hypothesis take into account the key pathological findings in SIDS? 2. Is the hypothesis congruent with the key epidemiological risk factors? 3. Does it link 1 and 2? Falling short of any one of these answers, by inference, would imply insufficient grounds for a sustainable hypothesis. Some of the hypotheses overlap, for instance, notional respiratory failure may encompass apnea, prone sleep position, and asphyxia which may be seen to be linked to co-sleeping. For the purposes of this paper, each element will be assessed on the above criteria