Swedish News:

Discovery brings about hope for treatment. Stormy weather. Sweden exercises with NATO forces. 

  • Piotr Hanczyc, a PhD student at Chalmers has made a discovery that may lead to treatment or cures for diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and Parkinson’s. He was led by professor Bengt Nordén. Photo: chalmers.se

  • Discovery brings about hope for treatment
    Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology in Göteborg have made a discovery that brings hope for possible treatments of serious diseases, according to a report by Swedish Radio’s Ekot. The discovery was done by Piotr Hanczyc, a PhD student, led by professor Bengt Nordén. Using advanced laser technology, the researchers have shown it is possible to identify unwanted protein accumulations that are believed to cause diseases like Alzheimer’s, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and Parkinson’s. But there remains a long road ahead to make sure it is really possible to develop a functioning treatment that slows down the diseases or even finds a cure for them. However, Nordén tells Swedish Radio the new discovery brings hope that in the future it will become possible to break down the protein accumulations or burn them off.

  • Professor Bengt Nordén Photo courtesy of browngroupnucleicacidsresearch.org.uk

  • Stormy weather
    In England it was called the St. Jude storm, in Germany it was Christian, and in Sweden the fall storm of 2013 was called Simone, as she swept through northwestern Europe on October 28 and 29; October 28 is the nameday of Simone. SMHI (The Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute) reported the winds in the Swedish inland reached 36 m/s (80 mph) in Halmstad, and 33 m/s (74 mph) in Ängelholm. Prior to Simone, Sweden had had 549 storm-free days.

  • Stormy weather… before the storm Simone hit Sweden on October 28 and 29, the country had been storm-free for 549 days.

  • Sweden exercises with NATO forces
    NATO’s military exercise Steadfast Jazz 2013, which is held in the Baltic countries and Poland, has begun. It is the first military exercise with NRF (NATO’s Response Force) in that area. Even the partner countries Sweden, Finland and Ukraine are participating in the exercise. From Sweden, there are seven staff officers participating. ”It is important to maintain and develop our defense capability,” said Karin Enström, Minister for Defense, when the decision that Sweden should participate was taken back in October. This is the first NATO exercise in seven years, and in total 6,000 soldiers are participating. The exercise takes place on land, at sea and in the air. NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen views NF as a ”cutting edge” that needs to be kept ”sharp and ready to use.”