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  • Ions in molten salts can go “against the flow”

    In a new article a research group at Uppsala University show, using computer simulations, that ions do not always behave as expected. In their research on molten salts, they were able to see that, in some cases, the ions in the salt mixture they were studying affect one another so much that they may even move in the “wrong” direction – that is, towards an electrode with the same charge.

  • Tough childhood damages life prospects

    An adverse upbringing often impairs people’s circumstances and health in their adult years, especially for couples who have both had similar experiences. This is shown by a new study, carried out by Uppsala University researchers, in which 818 mothers and their partners filled in a questionnaire one year after having a child together. The study is now published in the scientific journal PLOS ONE.

  • European eels – one gene pool fits all

    European eels spend most of their adult life in a range of fresh- and brackish waters, across Europe and Northern Africa. Using whole-genome analysis, a new study finds that all European eels belong to a single panmictic population, an extraordinary finding for a species living under such variable environmental conditions. The study is published in PNAS.

  • ​Disrupted immune cell navigation in lymph nodes of breast cancer patients

    In breast cancer, tumours of different types have divergent effects on the functioning of the lymph nodes. In patients with invasive breast cancer, the blood vessels and supporting tissue of the lymph nodes change, but this does not occur in patients with a non-invasive form of breast cancer. This is shown in a new study from Uppsala University, published online in the scientific journal Cancers.

  • Antibiotic resistance from random DNA sequences

    An important and still unanswered question is how new genes that cause antibiotic resistance arise. In a new study, Swedish and American researchers have shown how new genes that produce resistance can arise from completely random DNA sequences. The results have been published in the journal PLOS Genetics.

  • Faulty metabolism of Parkinson’s medication in the brain linked to severe side effects

    Until now, the reason why the drug levodopa (L-Dopa), which reduces the motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, declines in efficacy after a few years’ use has been unknown. A side effect that then often occur is involuntary movements. A Swedish–French collaboration, led from Uppsala University, has now been able to connect the problems with defective metabolism of L-Dopa in the brain.

  • Parents’ finances differently affected by having a child diagnosed with cancer

    Mothers and fathers of children diagnosed with cancer are affected financially in different ways. While mothers’ incomes fall in the short term and then rise, the adverse financial repercussions on fathers occur later. Researchers at Uppsala University have investigated the socioeconomic impact on parents of having a child diagnosed with cancer.

  • New Centre for Nuclear Disarmament for Uppsala University

    Today, the Swedish Government decided to assign to Uppsala University the task of setting up a new national knowledge centre for research on nuclear disarmament. With an interdisciplinary approach and researchers in fields including peace and conflict research and nuclear physics, the incipient Alva Myrdal Centre will conduct research with the goal of contributing to a safer world for humankind.

  • ​Archives crucial for Freemasons’ identity

    The Order of Freemasons’ meticulous archives are fundamental to their identity. The unique structure of the masonic archives reinforces the secrecy and mystique of the self-image that has been fashioned by the Order — and characterises it in the eyes of others. This is shown in a recent thesis from Uppsala University, which focuses on the Masons’ archives in the 18th and 19th centuries.

  • Parlour games 400 years ago – almost like today

    In a new thesis from Uppsala University, art historian Greger Sundin studied 16th and 17th century games that have been preserved in princely collections for example. Right at the end of his work on the thesis, he and a colleague were able to solve an over 300 year old riddle about a game in the Augsburg Art Cabinet.

  • Oral contraceptive pills protect against ovarian and endometrial cancer

    A comprehensive study from Uppsala University, involving more than 250,000 women, shows that oral contraceptive use protects against ovarian and endometrial cancer. The protective effect remains for several decades after discontinuing the use. The study is published in the journal Cancer Research.

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