When words make you sick
In a new book, experts in a variety of fields explore nocebo effects – how negative expectations concerning health can make a person sick. It is the first time a book has been written on this subject.
In a new book, experts in a variety of fields explore nocebo effects – how negative expectations concerning health can make a person sick. It is the first time a book has been written on this subject.
People who have had the herpes virus at some point in their lives are twice as likely to develop dementia compared to those who have never been infected. A new study from Uppsala University confirms previous research on whether herpes can be a possible risk factor for dementia.
A new 2D quantum material has been discovered. The material consists of atom-thin layers of cerium, silicon and iodine (CeSiI) and is the first example of a 2D material with heavy fermions. It is presented in a new study by researchers in materials science at Uppsala University and others, published in the scientific journal Nature.
Vice-Chancellor Anders Hagfeldt has appointed Jenny Helin, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Business Studies, as Adviser to the Vice-Chancellor on Campus Gotland. The role of the Adviser to the Vice-Chancellor is to advise the Vice-Chancellor on matters concerning Campus Gotland and to develop the University’s activities there.
He opened up a completely new field of research by sequencing the genome of our long-extinct relatives. For his scientific accomplishments, Svante Pääbo was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2022. He has now been named Uppsala University’s Alumnus of the Year 2023.
The Johan Skytte Foundation is delighted to announce that Alexander Wendt and Martha Finnemore have been jointly awarded the Johan Skytte Prize in Political Science. The prize is a recognition of their exceptional contributions to the field, particularly in advancing the constructivist approach to the study of international relations.
The earlier infants begin to taste small samples of solid food, the earlier they eat more food and stop breastfeeding. This is shown in a new study from Uppsala University and Sophiahemmet University, in which the mothers of 1,251 infants from all over Sweden participated. Almost half of the infants received tastings at the age of four months.
Researchers at Uppsala University have discovered and characterised a DNA sequence found in jawed vertebrates, such as sharks and humans, but absent in jawless vertebrates, such as lampreys. This DNA is important for the shaping of the joint surfaces during embryo development.
In a study an international team of researchers have identified 28 gene regions that have been particularly important in the evolution of Darwin’s finches. These genetic variants do not represent recent mutations but constitute ancestral genetic variation that has accumulated over time as different species of Darwin’s finches have evolved with striking differences in beak morphology.
Oral contraceptives and hormone therapy at menopause increase the risk of stroke. The increased risk is greatest during the first year of treatment and then declines. The study, which is now published in Stroke, is based on data from over a quarter of a million women from the UK Biobank database.
A gene variant in the natural immune system influences the risk for blood clots in the lungs of severely ill COVID-19 patients. This has been documented in a new study by researchers at Uppsala University and Karolinska Institutet that has now been published in Nature Immunology.
Mummification of the dead probably was more common in prehistory than previously known. This discovery was made at the hunter-gatherer burial sites in the Sado Valley in Portugal, dating to 8 000 years ago. A new study, headed by archaeologists at Uppsala University and Linnaeus University in Sweden and University of Lisbon in Portugal, presents new evidence for pre-burial treatments such as desi
For the first time through experiments and theory, Uppsala researchers, together with international collaborators, have been able to measure spin mixing in a ferromagnetic material. Through the experimental measurements, they discovered that a common factor in spin equations, in common use since the 1950s, has been significantly underestimated.
In addition to the well known electric charge, ele
Levels of dopamine and placebo effect can determine whether social anxieties improve when treated with SSRIs. The effect was four times higher for patients with high expectations compared with low expectations, even though the groups received the same medical treatment. Although SSRIs influence levels of serotonin in the brain, the effects on dopamine had the greatest impact for improvement.
Researchers at Uppsala University have designed new antibodies that might provide more effective treatment methods for Alzheimer’s disease. By designing antibodies that bind even to the smaller aggregates, or clumps, of the amyloid-beta protein, it may be possible to check the progress of the disease. The results presents in Translational Neurodegeneration.
Mast cell precursor cells do not just cause an increase in mature mast cells during inflammation, they also play an active role in diseases like asthma. This finding is in a new study by immunology researchers published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. The study also emphasises that precursor cells in general can play an active role in inflammation and challenges the current ide
“The school system is not fulfilling its compensatory mission. Instead, it is entrenching the inequalities of life opportunities among children and youth, and social reproduction and segregation,” says Göran Nygren, researcher at the Department of Cultural Anthropology and Ethnology at Uppsala University, who recently defended his thesis.
Determining an individual’s blood group based on genetic tests instead of merely traditional blood tests can provide a better picture of the risk of cardiovascular diseases. If a patient has two genetic variants of A, B or AB, the risk is twice as high compared with if one is O. This is the finding of a new study from the Uppsala University using data from UK Biobank.
In a study published in the US journal Science Advances, a single cell type map of human tissues is presented. An open access atlas has been launched with more than 250,000 interactive plots to allow researchers to explore the expression in individual single cell types for all protein-coding genes in these tissues.
Mothers leaving their families is not a new theme in Swedish fiction. But the reasons for leaving have changed. It is no longer about lack of gender equality, instead, they feel suffocated by the nuclear family, by the children or simply by society’s demands to have children. That is one of the conclusions in Jenny Björklund’s research on why mothers in 21st century books leave their families.