A millennium of population change in pre-modern Danish Ribe.

Denmark experienced major socioeconomic changes, including overall population growth, during the Viking, medieval and post-medieval periods from ca. AD 800 to 1800. Archaeological skeletons provide a unique perspective on the population structure of Ribe, a Danish town in Jutland, during the millennium that immediately precedes the industrialization of northern Europe.

Socio-demographic correlates of alcohol consumption in the Danish general population.

Aims: Little is known about specific Danish drinking patterns. This paper investigates how various socio-demographic factors are related to Danish alcohol consumption with special focus on age and sex.

Methods: Data come from a national telephone survey of the Danish general population conducted in 2003 with a final sample size of 2,030 cases.

[Buffon and the longevity of species in the light of history].

In 1749 Buffon proposed a general law for the longevity of species. In retrospect this law laid the foundation for modern studies of correlations between biological variables. Buffon refers to "la durée totale de la vie", the maximum lifespan, and claims that there is a systematic relationship between this variable and a measure of the growth period.

[Buffon, the director of 'Jardin du Roi' in the 1700s].

Buffon and Linné were the two greatest naturalists of the 1700s. As they were both born in 1707, their 300 anniversaries were therefore celebrated in France and Sweden. At the celebration meeting at the University of Bourgogne in Dijon - The Buffon Legacy - September 3-6, 2007, we presented the following paper: "Buffon and the longevity of species".

Genetic and environmental correlates of semen quality: a twin study.

Background: The influences of environmental factors on the male reproductive system have been much debated over the last 3 decades. We studied the impact of genes and environment on semen quality, sex hormone levels, and sperm chromatin stability by using a twin design.

Methods: The study population consisted of monozygotic and dizygotic twins from the population-based Danish Twin Registry and a random selection of pairs of singleton brothers from the Danish Civil Registration System.

No association between telomere length and survival among the elderly and oldest old.

Background: The consistent findings of a negative correlation between telomere length and replicative potential of cultured cells, as well as a decreasing telomere length in a number of different tissues in humans with age, have led to the suggestion that telomeres play a role in cellular aging in vivo and ultimately even in organismal aging. Furthermore, one small longitudinal study of elderly individuals has suggested that longer telomeres are associated with better survival.

Methods: Telomere length was measured as mean terminal restriction fragment length on blood cells from 812 persons, age 73 to 101 years, who participated in population-based surveys in 1997-1998.

The heritability of telomere length among the elderly and oldest-old.

A tight link exists between telomere length and both population doublings of a cell culture and age of a given organism. The more population doublings of the cell culture or the higher the age of the organism, the shorter the telomeres. The proposed model for telomere shortening, called the end replication problem, explains why the telomere erodes at each cellular turnover.

Telomere length among the elderly and oldest-old.

Human chromosomes terminate in a number of repeats of the sequence TTAGGG. At birth, each chromosome end is equipped with approximately 15 kb of telomere sequence, but this sequence is shortened during each cell division. In cell cultures telomere shortening is associated with senescence, a phenomenon that has also been observed in normal adult tissues, indicating that telomere loss is associated with organismal ageing.

Risk for multiple sclerosis in dizygotic and monozygotic twins.

We investigated the risks of twins for multiple sclerosis (MS). Our data are linked registers of all Danish twins and of all Danes born between 1920 and 1970 in whom MS was diagnosed before 1997. We compared differences in the risks for MS by Cox regression and standardized incidence ratios.

Small effect of genetic factors on neck pain in old age: a study of 2,108 Danish twins 70 years of age and older.

Study Design: Classic twin study.

Objectives: To determine the heritability of neck pain in persons 70 years of age and older.

Summary Of Background Data: Previous studies have shown a moderate effect of genetic factors on back pain in the elderly.

The catalase -262C/T promoter polymorphism and aging phenotypes.

A low level of the central antioxidant enzyme catalase has been suggested to be a risk factor for diseases influenced by oxidative stress. In this study, we investigated the possible association of the catalase -262C/T polymorphism with survival, physical and cognitive functioning, and a number of oxidative stress-mediated disorders. The study population was 2223 Danish individuals, aged 45-93 years, drawn from three population-based surveys.

Genetic and environmental contributions to back pain in old age: a study of 2,108 danish twins aged 70 and older.

Study Design: Self-reported 1-month prevalence of back pain in older twins assessed at intake in a population-based longitudinal survey.

Objectives: To determine the relative contribution of genetic and environmental factors to back pain in old age.

Summary Of Background Data: To date, genetic contributions to back pain in old age have not been assessed, to the authors' best knowledge.

[Werner Catel--a protagonist in Nazi "pediatric euthanasia" and his post-war career].

This article deals with the biography of Werner Catel, a German paediatrician and protagonist of the Nazi programme for "euthanasia of children". Based on original research into recently discovered source materials, two aspects of Catel's life are considered. Firstly, Catel's attitude towards "euthanasia" is analysed.

Preliminary evidence of genetic anticipation in Graves' disease.

Despite strong epidemiologic evidence in favor of a genetic component in the etiology of Graves' disease, few hereditary risk factors have been consistently identified. The term genetic anticipation denotes a decrease in the age of onset as disease is passed through generations. In the past 5 years, genetic anticipation has been described in immune-mediated diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and chronic inflammatory bowel disease, and recently this phenomenon has been linked to unstable expanded trinucleotide repeat sequences in several diseases.

Informational constraints on optimal sex allocation in ants.

Workers of the ant Formica truncorum specialize in rearing females or males depending on the number of fathers of a colony. These split sex ratios increase inclusive fitness, but it has remained unknown how workers assess the number of patrilines in their colonies and to what extent their reproductive decisions are constrained by lack of information. By analysis of the quantitative variation in cuticular hydrocarbon profiles of workers of multiply mated queens, we show that the heritable component of recognition cues is low and that the extent of sex ratio biasing toward males is correlated with patriline differences in hydrocarbon profiles.

Hand grip strength: a phenotype suitable for identifying genetic variants affecting mid- and late-life physical functioning.

Physical functioning late in life has been shown to be affected by genetic factors. Only a few genetic variants have been suggested to be associated with physical functioning, and this only in selected populations (e.g.