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World-renowned Renaissance astronomer Tycho Brahe died on 24 October 1601, after 11 days of illness. Several conspiracy theories regarding his death have been aired, the first shortly after his death by William Shakespeare in the play Hamlet, published in 1603. A key factor in the still lively debate is whether he was administered mercury-as medicine by his own hand, or as poison by an unfriendly hand. In 2010, Brahe's grave was reopened and samples of his bones, hair, teeth and the textiles were procured and analysed. Here, we present evidence that Brahe was not administered lethal doses of mercury.

This paper presents the first unambiguous terrestrial palaeoecological record for the late glacial “Bølling warming” in Denmark. Pollen and macrofossil stratigraphies from pre-Bølling to 10,800 cal yr BP are presented from a small kettle hole in Southwest Denmark, during which the lake basin developed from an immature stage after the deglaciation to complete infilling in the early Holocene. Results show that the recently deglaciated landscape bore a discontinuous vegetation of pioneer plants. After the Bølling warming, an open Dryas octopetala-Betula nana community developed with Helianthemum oelandicum. Subarctic species were dominant and local successions were probably delayed by relatively unstable and infertile soils. There is no indication of a climate cooling during the period corresponding to the Older Dryas, but the occurrence of several drought tolerant and steppe species indicates that the period was relatively dry. In the Allerød period the Dryas-B. nana vegetation was initially replaced by an open Salix and grass dominated vegetation and some 400 years later, the first tree birches were documented presumably occupying moist and sheltered soils while drier land remained open. In the Younger Dryas period trees disappeared and the vegetation became open again and dominated by subarctic species. Following climate warming at the Younger Dryas–Holocene transition a shrub community of Empetrum and Juniperus developed. After approximately 200 years it was replaced by birch forest. Overall, the late-glacial vegetation cover had a more open and patchy character than inferred from previous pollen studies as assessment of the vegetation succession based on macrofossil evidence is essential. The inferred general vegetation development corresponds well with results of other studies in the region. Canonical ordinations (RDA) indicate that vegetation changes at the landscape scale during the Lateglacial period were driven by changes in climate, soils and competition for

We studied the progression of diabetic retinopathy during pregnancy in women with type 2 diabetes.

INTRODUCTION: The aim was to evaluate the prevalence and progression of diabetic retinopathy during pregnancy in women with type 1 or type 2 diabetes. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Dilated fundal photography was performed at approximately 10 and 28 gestational weeks in 58 and 18 women with type 1 and type 2 diabetes, respectively. Retinopathy was classified as five stages +/- macular oedema. Progression was defined as deterioration corresponding to at least one stage between the two examinations. Clinical parameters were obtained from the medical records. RESULTS: Diabetic retinopathy was found in 36 (62%) women with type 1 and three (17%) with type 2 diabetes at the first examination. In 26 (34%) retinopathy progressed; four women developed proliferations, three macular oedema and three reduction of visual acuity >/=0.2 on Snellen's chart in at least one eye. HbA1c in early pregnancy was the only significant predictor of progression (odds ratio = 1.75, 95% confidence interval = 1.09-2.82). Progression of retinopathy also tended to be associated with type 1 diabetes and long diabetes duration. CONCLUSION: The risk of progression of diabetic retinopathy during pregnancy was considerable, especially among women with high HbA1c values in early pregnancy. A few women developed proliferations, macular oedema and reduction of visual acuity. Development of sight-threatening alterations during pregnancy remains a clinical problem Udgivelsesdato: 2008/12/8