An international experimental research team led from HPSTAR, China and Uppsala University, Sweden, have used experimental research as well as theory to understand high-pressure structural phase transitions in hydrogen which could give rise to metallisation and could even result in superconductivity. The findings were published this week in the online edition of Nature.
Lena Claessonn-Welsh's researcher group from Uppsala University, has revealed for the first time a mechanism for how new blood vessels are formed and have shown the importance of this mechanism for embryo survival and organ function. The results could be developed to control the formation of new blood vessels in different diseases. The new study is published in the journal EMBO Reports.
In a new study, researchers at Uppsala University have identified a previously unknown mechanism that regulates release of insulin, a hormone that lowers blood glucose levels, from the β-cells (beta cells) of the pancreas. This mechanism is disrupted in type 2 diabetes. The scientists hope this finding will be used to develop new treatments against the disease.
Physicists at Uppsala University have identified how to distinguish between true and ‘fake’ Majorana states in one of the most commonly used experimental setups, by means of supercurrent measurements. This theoretical study is a crucial step for advancing the field of topological superconductors and applications of Majorana states for robust quantum computers. New experiments are expected next.
Patients who attend ‘Heart School’, as almost every patient is invited to do after a first heart attack, live longer than non-participating patients. This is shown in a new study, by researchers at Uppsala University, published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.
Densification of cities causes less space for spontaneous play leading to negative effects on children’s health. Even though the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child has been ratified by most countries, the child perspective is often missing in the planning process. The high-level international meeting Uppsala Health Summit is focusing on urban planning from a child health perspective.
A comprehensive study from Uppsala University, with over 325,000 participants, shows that deep belly fat is a major contributing risk factor for developing diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The study also shows that deep belly fat is a larger risk factor in women compared to men.
Reference reagents are important in diagnostics and care of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). An international team of researchers now presents a WHO autoantibody reference reagent that will help to align autoantibody analyses and thus to optimise diagnosis and treatment to patients irrespective of where they live. The findings are published in Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.
A new study examines the historical and genetic origins of the White Plymouth Rock chicken, an important contributor to today’s meat chickens (broilers). Researchers at Uppsala University in Sweden, The Livestock Conservancy and Virginia Tech in the USA have used genomics to study breed formation and the roots of modern broilers.
A single amino acid change in the light-sensing rhodopsin protein played a critical role when herring adapted to the red-shifted light environment in the Baltic Sea, shows an study by an international team of scientists, led by researchers from Uppsala University, which is published in PNAS. Remarkably about one third of all fish living in brackish or freshwater carry the same change.
Modern flamingoes employ filter feeding and their feces are, as a result, rich in remains of microscopically-small aquatic prey. Very similar contents are described from more than 150 million year old pterosaur droppings in a recent paper in PeerJ. This represents the first direct evidence of filter-feeding in Late Jurassic pterosaurs.
There is a growing demand for diagnostic markers for early disease detection and prognosis. Exosomes are potential biomarkers for cancer progression and neurodegenerative disease but it can be difficult to identify what tissue a specific exosome comes from. Researchers have solved this problem by developing a method that maps surface protein complements on large numbers of individual exosomes.