Heterogeneous contributions of change in population distribution of body mass index to change in obesity and underweight

From 1985 to 2016, the prevalence of underweight decreased, and that of obesity and severe obesity increased, in most regions, with significant variation in the magnitude of these changes across regions. We investigated how much change in mean body mass index (BMI) explains changes in the prevalence of underweight, obesity, and severe obesity in different regions using data from 2896 population-based studies with 187 million participants. Changes in the prevalence of underweight and total obesity, and to a lesser extent severe obesity, are largely driven by shifts in the distribution of BMI, with smaller contributions from changes in the shape of the distribution. In East and Southeast Asia…

Author response: Heterogeneous contributions of change in population distribution of body mass index to change in obesity and underweight

A historical case of beaten-copper cranium

The authors present the oldest historical case of a so-called beaten-copper cranium. The typical pattern was identified on a skull from a child, probably a boy, who died at approximately 6 years of age and was buried in a provisional cemetery used during the siege of Hanau, Germany, in 1635 and 1636. Morphological and radiological analyses of the severe digitate impressions ubiquitous on the child's endocranium support the diagnosis of chronically elevated intracranial pressure due to hydrocephalus.

Molecular evidence of HLA-B27 in a historical case of ankylosing spondylitis

Fundamentals of Paleoimaging Techniques: Bridging the Gap Between Physicists and Paleopathologists

State-of-the-art imaging in palaeopathology: the value of multislice computed tomography in visualizing doubtful cranial lesions

Non-invasive imaging techniques are of great value in palaeopathology. Computed tomography (CT) is widely established to visualize changes in human remains that occurred both pre and post mortem. Since 1999 an advanced form of helical CT—so called Multislice-CT (MSCT)—has become available for clinical purposes. We now present for the first time three historic cranial lesions of doubtful aetiology visualized by MSCT. Both original images and virtual reconstructions of the specimens are of high quality. In combination with peri-lesional bone density measurements these images allow an improved assessment of aetiology. The cases presented are diagnosed by MSCT as being of intra vitam nature in …

Pathogens and host immunity in the ancient human oral cavity.

Calcified dental plaque (dental calculus) preserves for millennia and entraps biomolecules from all domains of life and viruses. We report the first high-resolution taxonomic and protein functional characterization of the ancient oral microbiome and demonstrate that the oral cavity has long served as a reservoir for bacteria implicated in both local and systemic disease. We characterize: (i) the ancient oral microbiome in a diseased state, (ii) 40 opportunistic pathogens, (iii) the first evidence of ancient human-associated putative antibiotic resistance genes, (iv) a genome reconstruction of the periodontal pathogen Tannerella forsythia, (v) 239 bacterial and 43 human proteins, allowing co…

Isotopic Anthropology of Rural German Medieval Diet: Intra- and Inter-population Variability

This study investigates the diet of an eleventh century CE parish community located in northwestern Germany. We assessed the isotopic compositions of human (n = 24) and faunal (n = 17) bone collagen (δ 13Ccol, δ 15Ncol) and human structural carbonate (δ 13Csc) using skeletal material recovered from the Dalheim cemetery. Traditional interpretation of the isotopic data indicates that Dalheim residents likely relied on a C3 plant-based diet and consumed some terrestrial animal products without evidence of marine resource input in the diet. Bivariate and multivariate models used as an additional means to assess diet indicate minor consumption of C4 plant foods in this community. The multivariat…