Other territory and asthma

New year has begun with same wishes as last year. No big changes. Training tomorrow. I have had a few days off and I have really been in need of that. Season holiday is great. I have thought some of 2018 and I don’t know why but I thought of the evening I spent at Universitets Aulan in Uppsala where various authors presented their books. This evening was a turning point for me since it really became apparent that I no longer have much focus on pharmacological mechanisms but rather study languages nowadays. I am very found of history and culture, and you can find this atmosphere in Uppsala. The 2nd of July 1477, Uppsala university was permitted by a signed letter by authorities to teach students, but there were also obligations accompanied with that agreement.

Before the lecture started at Universitetsaulan, I walked through the building with my camera. On the second floor there are different rooms where various faculties are represented. I remember that when I started studying in Uppsala I didn’t understand why all lectures began 15 minutes after every hour. Many centuries ago students didn’t have watches, so to be on time, the church bell rang eight times every hour. Then everybody knew they had approximately 15 minutes to go to the lecture. This is a so called “akademisk kvart”.

I did my pharmacy studies in Uppsala, but I continued to study in Gothenburg. Göteborg University started in 1891 and is not as old as Uppsala University, and therefore an “akademisk kvart” doesn’t exist. I remember I attended a dissertation in Gothenburg where the opponent was a professor from Uppsala. With a glimpse in his eye, he said that Uppsala University is more trustable since it is more developed.

Universities.

Sometimes, I actually still read some academic publications. By chance, I saw an interesting study about future risks of asthma and dogs (Fall T et al, Scientific Reports: 2018 Nov 15;8(1):16899). Since I fancy dogs I read the study. The main finding was that dog-exposed children had less asthma compared to other children at a certain age. Only female dogs and not male dogs. Interesting. However, the study should be repeated since confounders such as life-style and/or dog management may vary among dog-owning families. And possibly, female hormones can influence. You can down load the full article on this link: 10.1038/s41598-018-35245-2

That is all for this evening.

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