Monthly Archives: September 2017

The Basics of Alzheimer’s Disease

Today is World Alzheimer’s Day, a day to raise awareness for a disease that is likely to affect 1 million people in the UK by the year 2025. To mark the day, our Social Media Intern and Neuroscience student, Charlie Wilkinson has written a guest post for us:

Alzheimer’s disease is a devastating neurodegenerative condition involving the death of nerve cells (neurones) in the brain, and the subsequent break down of communication between synapses.

Affecting millions worldwide, Alzheimer’s Disease is the most common form of dementia in the elderly, affecting 850,000 people in the UK alone. The disease is associated with serious cognitive decline, including typical memory and language impairment. The disease has now overtaken heart disease as the leading cause of death in women.

The biological mechanisms that underpin the development of Alzheimer’s Disease can be boiled down to the formation of plaques, and tangles. The development of the condition is a result of faulty mechanisms in the brain for the breakdown of a specific protein.

Plaques 

Amyloid Precursor Protein (APP)  is a protein found abundantly in the brain, stuck in the membranes of neurones. The function of the protein is largely unknown, but the way this protein is broken down is the critical early event in Alzheimer’s Disease.

Proteins like APP are made up of many small units known as amino acids; enzymes have the ability to break down proteins by cutting at specific amino acid sites. If the APP protein is cut by one enzyme (alpha), the protein that’s formed is healthy and soluble. If however, APP is cleaved by another enzyme (beta), the protein that’s formed is diseased and insoluble. This diseased protein is known as beta-amyloid.

As more of this beta-amyloid protein is formed, the proteins start to stick together or aggregate, forming senile plaques. Although the way these plaques cause damage isn’t fully understood, it is theorised that the body reacting to the plaques with an inflammatory response leads to damage of neuronal cells in the brain, which is the typical symptom of Alzheimer’s Disease.

Tangles

The other proteins typically associated with Alzheimer’s Disease are neurofibrillary tangles. Tangles are formed through twisted fibres, formed as small protein units called ‘tau’ which stick together inside neurones.

The tau proteins are usually associated with the transport system inside these cells – nutrients are important for the function of these nerve cells, and transport systems supported by tau are important in moving nutrient and other supplies around the cell.

When tangles form using tau proteins, these transport systems essentially malfunction meaning nutrients and other essential products can’t be transported around the cell and the cell starts to die.

There is no cure for Alzheimer’s Disease, and treatments can only target the cognitive decline and other symptoms associated with the disease. Treatments for the condition, however, are becoming ever more effective targeting different aspects of the disease. The determination of researchers to develop treatments to reduce the burden of the disease in sufferers, is encouraging for the future of Alzheimer’s disease.

The 21st September 2017 is world Alzheimer’s day. For more information about Alzheimer’s Disease and to find out how you can help combat this illness visit the Alzheimer’s Society here.

 

#TryThisTuesday: Virtual Treasure Hunt

To celebrate International Talk Like a Pirate Day we have put together a virtual treasure hunt that you can do from a phone or computer.

For this treasure hunt you will need to solve clues to find co-ordinates to the next stop . The first three people to make it to the end of the hunt will win the treasure of a Street Science Busking Kit which is filled with equipment to make amazing science demonstrations at home!

Using Co-ordinates

Geographic co-ordinates allow every place on Earth to be identified with a set of numbers. The system that we’re using for this treasure hunt gives every point a latitude number and a longitude number.

If you were to draw a line from your point on the globe into the centre of the Earth and another from the centre of the Earth to the Equator, the angle between these two lines gives you the Latitude.

Longitude is measured slightly differently.  There is an invisible line running from the North Pole to the South Pole through the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London, known as the Prime Meridian.  All points along this line have the longitude 0. The longitude of other points are calculated as the angle east or west from the Prime Meridian.

So Newcastle Upon Tyne, where we’re starting our treasure hunt from, has the co-ordinates 54.97, -1.61 because it is 54.97 degrees from the Equator and 1.61 degrees to the west of the Prime Meridian. Going west of the Prime Meridian or south of the Equator gives the co-ordinate a negative value.

 

The Treasure Hunt

Try to solve the clues to find the co-ordinates for the next place. Once you’ve got co-ordinates type them into Google maps (just like this: 54.97, -1.61 with latitude first) and make a note of where you’ve got to.

This will test your research skills as well as your maths skills, feel free to use Wikipedia and a calculator.

Destination One

The latitude for the first place is 57.14 divided by the number of universities in Newcastle Upon Tyne.

The longitude is  equal to 10 – 90.65.

Where are you?

 

Destination Two

To find the latitude of our second destination, take the last two digits of the year the first man walked on the moon, half this number then add 3.32

The longitude can be found by taking the year Newcastle University became independent from Durham University away from the year that the oldest part of the university (the School of Medicine and Surgery) was established and adding 6.52.

What amazing feat of engineering are you near?

 

Destination Three

For the latitude of our next place, take away 3.1 from the distance that Destination Two stretches in miles.

The longitude can calculated by the number of different countries that students at Newcastle University have come from divided by -2.

Which wondrous forest have we arrived at?

 

Destination Four

The latitude of this place can be uncovered by multiplying the number of countries that share Destination Three by 5 then adding 1.234

The longitude is equal to the number of reptile species that have been discovered in our previous destination divided by 63 then add 0.053

What amazing discoveries were made here?

 

Destination Five

The above place is often known by an abbreviation of four letters. If you convert these letters to numbers (eg. a=1, b=2, c=3 etc.) and square the second number, then add 0.197 you will have the latitude of our next  destination.

To find the longitude, convert the first letter of the abbreviation to a number and take this away from 58.274.

Which incredible man made structure are you looking at now?

 

Destination Six

For the latitude of our final place – where the treasure is buried – you will need to divide the total height of the structure we just saw (in metres) by -46.1.

To find the longitude, simply take away 16 from the number of floors in this structure.

Where is our treasure buried?

If you think you’ve cracked it, either send us an email to stem@ncl.ac.uk or comment below with the six places the co-ordinates led you to!

 

International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer

The United Nations marks today, the 16th September, as the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer. In the 1970’s scientists discovered that the ozone layer was under threat from certain gases, such as chlorine and bromine, which had accumulated in the atmosphere. Then, in the 1980’s, a “hole” was discovered in the ozone layer above Antarctica – the region of the earth’s atmosphere which had suffered the severest ozone depletion. Read our fact sheet below for more information on the ozone layer and why the 16th September is such an important date.

Visit www.ozoneheroes.org to learn more about the ozone layer and become an ozone hero!

The Great British Beach Clean

This weekend, thousands of people will head to the beaches of Britain to take part in The Great British Beach Clean. The yearly event, organised by the Marine Conservation Society, aims to make beaches a cleaner and safer place for people and wildlife alike. The waste and litter in our seas and on our beaches is a constant threat to marine wildlife, with many species becoming entangled in litter or mistaking small pieces of rubbish for food.

By taking part in the Beach Clean, as well as tidying our coastline, you are also contributing to a national survey, Beach Watch, which provides vital data on the state of marine litter in the UK. The results from this survey help to identify which issues need to be most urgently addressed and raises awareness of the consequences of not properly disposing of your rubbish. Last year saw a decline in the number of plastic carrier bags found on beaches (thanks to that 5p charge at the checkout!), but the amounts of other waste, such as balloon pieces, drinks containers and wet wipes continues to rise.

The 2016 Beach Clean saw more than 6000 volunteers help clean 364 beaches. If you live near a beach and want to help keep our coast beautiful and make it a safer place for people and marine life, then click here to find your local Great British Beach Clean Event and get involved!