Press releases

Yes, we can, according to this dissertation from Göteborg University, which deals with the impact of road tolls on car use, factors that influence attitudes to road tolls, and road tolls in comparison with other types of steering mechanisms targeting automobile use. But you have to have a positive attitude toward cutting down on car use (which people rarely have) and you have to plan how to go about it and regularly monitor your progress in relation to a realistic goal. Otherwise routines and impulsive actions, especially shopping, will prevent any decrease in the mileage you chalk up.

A new model for the interaction among the nerve cells of the cerebral cortex may be a step on the way to improving treatment for schizophrenia and ADHD. The model, which describes the function of three types of inhibitory nerve cells in the frontal lobe, is being presented in the scientific journal PNAS by researchers from Linköping University and elsewhere.

The luminescent substances of the firefly, luciferase, is used today in various forms of bioanalysis, but it is temperature sensitive. Jonas Eiksson, a doctoral student at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm (KTH), has managed to get the substance to function at higher temperatures, which can yield more certain DNA analyses. In the future it may also be able to help trace life in space.

The catastrophe that extinguished the dinosaurs and other animal species, 65 million years ago also brought dramatic changes to the vegetation. In a study presented in latest issue of the journal Science, the paleontologists Vivi Vajda from the University of Lund, Sweden and Stephen McLoughlin from the Queensland University of Technology, Australia have described what happened to the vegetation month by month. They depict a world in darkness where the fungi had taken over.

Stress and difficult life events in the family can contribute to the development of diabetes in children. A correlation between such mental duress and diabetes-related autoimmune activity has been established in studies at Linköping University.

Unemployed people are often politically passive. They vote less often in general elections than others, and they don’t believe in their own ability to influence events. In his doctoral dissertation, Per Adman, of the Uppsala University Department of Government, shows the interests of the unemployed risk being ignored when political decisions are made.

In the coming issue of the Lancet, Number 9410, a study is published, where a number of Swedish rheumatology research units has participated, shows that patients treated with a combination of etanercept and methotrexate have reduced joint symptoms after 52 weeks of treatment. Combination therapy slowed joint destruction and initiated a repair process.

A new study from Karolinska Institutet shows, for the first time, an association between coronary heart disease and oral health in women. Recent results have also shown that serological factors, might provide insight into the reported epidemiological association between periodontitis and cardiovascular disease.

Children of smokers have nicotine in their bodies, even if their parents smoke outdoors with the door closed. This is revealed in a study included in a doctoral dissertation by registered nurse and public health researcher AnnaKarin Johansson at Linköping University.

In the 19th century a fossil was uncovered in Belgium that was believed to be the jaw of a fish.´Now a team of scientists have shown that it is in fact a fossil from an ancestor of all present-day land animals. It is the first discovery of a so-called tetrapod from the Devonian Period in continental Europe, which may trigger an interest in re-examining objects in museums.