Forensic odontological examinations of alleged torture victims at the University of Copenhagen 1997-2011

Background: Clinical forensic examinations of alleged torture victims have been performed by forensic pathologists at the University of Copenhagen since 1995. In 13.2%/33 of these cases, the examinations were supplemented by a forensic odontological clinical examination. In this study, the forensic odontological cases from the years 1997-2011 are presented and discussed. Methods: This study includes 33 reports from alleged torture victims (4 females, 29 males) who have been examined by a forensic odontologist at the Copenhagen School of Dentistry in the years 1997-2011. The material available consisted of copies of medical forensic reports and the forensic odontological reports including x-rays. Background data, anamnestic data and results of the forensic odontological clinical examinations were registered as well as the conclusion of the clinical examinations. Findings: The forensic odontological clinical examinations were complicated by the presence of unspecific injuries and various degrees of active oral pathology. In 27 of the cases it was concluded that the findings were consistent with the alleged torture, in six of the cases the findings were concluded to be highly consistent with the alleged torture

Herbivore Impact Versus Host Size Preference: Endophagous Insects on Heracleum mantegazzianum in Its Native Range

Classical biological control is a practice to control alien invasive weeds, but many introduced biological control agents exhibit only a weak negative impact on their targets. One reason is that prerelease impact studies in the natural environment are often difficult to carry out. Heracleum mantegazzianum Sommier and Levier (Apiaceae), which is native to the Caucasus, is a perennial noxious weed introduced into Europe and North America. We examined the impact and host size preference of different endophagous insect guilds in the weed's native range. Instead of the commonly used insect exclosure approach, we estimated plant vigor before and after herbivore attack under natural conditions. Endophagous herbivores were dominated by the weevil species Lixus iridis Olivier, Nastus fausti Reitter, and Otiorhynchus tatarchani Reitter (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), the fly Melanagromyza heracleana Zlobin (Diptera: Agromyzidae), and an unidentified root-boring agromyzid fly species. Most observed insect species exhibited a strong preference for either big or small plants, but none of them caused serious damage within the study period. Occurrence of root-feeding weevils was associated with weak plants, but because of their long larval development, it was not possible to assign this relationship clearly to either feeding damage or host size preference. A comparison with other studies indicated that mature H. mantegazzianum plants are quite tolerant to herbivory. Insects belonging to the feeding guilds studied here will probably not guarantee successful biological control. Further research should focus on earlier stages in the weed's life cycl

Reviews

Reviews: Arne Skjølsvold: Slettabøboplassen. Et bidrag til diskusjonen om forholdet mellem fangst- og bondesamfunnet i yngre steinalder og bronsealder. Stavanger 1977. (by Svend Nielsen). Klaus Ebbesen: Tragtbægerkultur i Nordjylland. Nordiske Fortidsminder. Ser. B, Vol. 5, 197 8. (by P. 0. Nielsen). Birgitta Hulthen: On Ceramic Technology during the Scanian Neolithic and Bronze Age. Stockholm 1977. (by Ulla Engberg). Renate Rolle: Totenkult der Skythen I. Das Steppengebiet. Vorgeschichtliche Forschungen 18,I, I and I,2. Berlin-N.Y. 1979. (by Ole Klindt-Jensen). Werner Haarnagel: Die Grabung Feddersen Wierde. Methode, Hausbau, Siedlungs- u. Wirtschaftsformen sowie Sozialstruktur. Wiesbaden 1979. (by Steen Hvass). U. Nasman and E. Wegraeus (eds.): Eketorp. Fortification and Settlement on Öland/Sweden. The Setting. Stockholm 1979. (by Ulla Lund Hansen). Ingrid Ulbricht: Die Geweihverarbeitung in Haithabu. Die Ausgrabungen in Haithabu, Vol. 7. Neumünster 1978 . Heid Gjöstein Resi: Die Specksteinfunde aus Haithabu. Berichte über die Ausgrabungen in Haithabu, Vol. 14. Neumünster 1979. (by Hans Jørgen Madsen)

Impact of acute coronary syndrome on clinical outcomes after revascularization with the dual-therapy CD34 antibody-covered sirolimus-eluting Combo stent and the sirolimus-eluting Orsiro stent

OBJECTIVES: To compare the efficacy and safety of the dual-therapy CD34 antibody-covered sirolimus-eluting Combo stent (DTS) and the sirolimus-eluting Orsiro stent (O-SES) in patients with and without acute coronary syndrome (ACS) included in the SORT OUT X study.BACKGROUND: The incidence of target lesion failure (TLF) after treatment with modern drug-eluting stents has been reported to be significantly higher in patients with ACS when compared to patients without ACS. Whether the results from the SORT OUT X study apply to patients with and without ACS remains unknown.METHODS: In total, 3146 patients were randomized to stent implantation with DTS (n = 1578; ACS: n = 856) or O-SES (n = 1568; ACS: n = 854). The primary end point, TLF, was a composite of cardiac death, target-lesion myocardial infarction (MI), or target lesion revascularization (TLR) within 1 year.RESULTS: At 1 year, the rate of TLF was higher in the DTS group compared to the O-SES group, both among patients with ACS (6.7% vs. 4.1%; incidence rate ratio: 1.65 [95% confidence interval, CI: 1.08-2.52]) and without ACS (6.0% vs. 3.2%; incidence rate ratio: 1.88 [95% CI: 1.13-3.14]). The differences were mainly explained by higher rates of TLR, whereas rates of cardiac death and target lesion MI did not differ significantly between the two stent groups in patients with or without ACS CONCLUSION: Compared to the O-SES, the DTS was associated with a higher risk of TLF at 12 months in patients with and without ACS. The differences were mainly explained by higher rates of TLR.</p

Extraction of cluster parameters with future Sunyaev-Zel'dovich observations

The Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect of galaxy clusters is characterized by three parameters: Compton parameter, electron temperature and cluster peculiar velocity. In the present study we consider the problem of extracting these parameters using multi-frequency SZ observations only. We show that there exists a parameter degeneracy which can be broken with an appropriate choice of frequencies. As a result we discuss the optimal choice of observing frequencies from a theoretical point of view. Finally, we analyze the systematic errors (of the order micro K) on the SZ measurement introduced by finite bandwidths, and suggest a possible method of reducing these errors.Comment: 20 pages, 13 figures, to be published in JCA

Cosmological limit on the neutrino mass

We have performed a careful analysis of constraints on the neutrino mass from current cosmological data. Combining data from the cosmic microwave background and the 2dF galaxy survey yields an upper limit on the sum of the three neutrino mass eigenstates of \sum m_nu < 3 eV (95% conf.), without including additional priors. Including data from SNIa observations, Big Bang nucleosynthesis, and HST Hubble key project data on H_0 tightens the limit to \sum m_nu < 2.5 eV (95% conf.). We also perform a Fisher matrix analysis which illustrates the cosmological parameter degeneracies affecting the determination of \sum m_nu.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, uses Revtex

CLPM: A Cross-Linked Peptide Mapping Algorithm for Mass Spectrometric Analysis

BACKGROUND: Protein-protein, protein-DNA and protein-RNA interactions are of central importance in biological systems. Quadrapole Time-of-flight (Q-TOF) mass spectrometry is a sensitive, promising tool for studying these interactions. Combining this technique with chemical crosslinking, it is possible to identify the sites of interactions within these complexes. Due to the complexities of the mass spectrometric data of crosslinked proteins, new software is required to analyze the resulting products of these studies. RESULT: We designed a Cross-Linked Peptide Mapping (CLPM) algorithm which takes advantage of all of the information available in the experiment including the amino acid sequence from each protein, the identity of the crosslinker, the identity of the digesting enzyme, the level of missed cleavage, and possible chemical modifications. The algorithm does in silico digestion and crosslinking, calculates all possible mass values and matches the theoretical data to the actual experimental data provided by the mass spectrometry analysis to identify the crosslinked peptides. CONCLUSION: Identifying peptides by their masses can be an efficient starting point for direct sequence confirmation. The CLPM algorithm provides a powerful tool in identifying these potential interaction sites in combination with chemical crosslinking and mass spectrometry. Through this cost-effective approach, subsequent efforts can quickly focus attention on investigating these specific interaction sites