|
A.
Scientists Link Brain Plaques in Alzheimer's to
an Age-related Eye Disease
Narrator:
This is Science Today. A link has been found between
the brain plaques that form in Alzheimer's Disease
and the deposits in the retina found in age-related
macular degeneration. Lincoln Johnson, a research
biologist at the University of California, Santa
Barbara's Neuroscience Research Institute, co-led
the study.
Johnson:
We had been studying deposits in the eyes of
people with macular degeneration for quite some
time because there are abnormal deposits in the
eyes of individuals with Alzheimer's disease and
those deposits are called drusen. During the course
of our studies, one of the objectives was to determine
what their molecular composition was.
Narrator:
The researchers discovered that drusen contained
very high concentrations of a protein called amyloid
beta - one of the major components in Alzheimer's
plaques.
Johnson:
If an individual has macular degeneration, they
do not necessarily have Alzheimer's and vice versa.
But what we've shown is that the basic disease process
going on in the brain is very similar to what's
going on in the eye.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
B.
Skipping Breakfast Adds to the Rise in Adult Obesity
Narrator:
This is Science Today. According to the U.S. Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention, obesity among
adults in the United States has gone up 10 percent
in six years. And according to Gladys Block, a nutritional
epidemiologist at the University of California, Berkeley,
the American trend of skipping breakfast is tipping
the scales even further.
Block: The level of obesity in
this country is really amazing. I mean, thirty percent
of people are actually obese, but when you combine
that with overweight or obese, two-thirds of Americans,
two-thirds of Americans are either overweight or obese.
Narrator:
According
to Block, the fact that the proportion of busy American
adults who skip breakfast has increased from 14 to
25 percent from 1965 to 1991 is only making the situation
worse.
Block:
In the year 2000, two-thirds of American families,
both the husband and the wife, worked outside of the
home. So we're busy! And that has led to a disordered
eating style that I think has contributed to the increase
in obesity.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
C.
Some Tips for Landscaping Homeowners
Narrator:
This is Science Today. The recent rise in the home
sales market has also caused an upturn in the landscape
and nursery industries. Urban horticulture expert
Dennis Pittenger, of the University of California,
Riverside, says many consumers are unsure about what
plants and shrubs are best for creating new property
landscapes. Pittenger offers these tips in selecting
healthy plants.
Pittenger:
You want to look for good, vigorous shoot growth
and you also want to look in the container. Don't
be bashful about removing the container and looking
to make sure the roots are filled into that container
and that you see a lot of nice white, healthy looking
roots in that root ball. Or at least make sure the
roots are not mushy and soft. Some plants will have
roots that are darker in color naturally, but if they're
firm, that means that they're still healthy.
Narrator:
When planting, Pittenger says make sure that the hole
is at least three to four times the diameter of the
root ball and it's not too deep.
Pittenger:
If
the hole is too deep, water collects around the root
stem collar and then we have dying off because the
roots are over watered and stem rots can develop.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
D.
A Discovery Links Sleep Apnea to a Speech Impediment
Narrator:This
is Science Today. Through an act of serendipity, UCLA
scientists have discovered that patients suffering
from obstructive sleep apnea have gray matter loss
in brain areas that regular breathing and speech.
In fact, neurobiologist Ronald Harper, who led the
study, says nearly forty percent of the patients they
studied also stuttered as children.
Harper:
First came the brain area/volume loss and then by
sheer accident, we noted that several of our subjects
stuttered during the patient interview and then we
called our other patients and asked, have you - did
you ever stutter as a child? And uniformly they came
back, oh yes -of course.
Narrator:
Harper says these findings may shed new light on the
treatment of two disorders.
Harper:
We have to focus attention on speech disorders
in early childhood and if children have - in addition
to a speech impediment, enlarged tonsils, we have
to jump on that issue because now I think there's
a suggestion that it's a severe problem.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
E.
Combat Simulation Technology Applied to Homeland Security
Narrator:This
is Science Today. Using a computer code originally
developed for combat simulation, researchers at the
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory are now applying
the same technology to homeland security. The program
is called Analytical Conflict and Tactical Simulation,
or ACATS, and it's an offshoot of the Lab's Joint
Conflict and Tactical Simulation, or JCATS, which
is used by the military.
Greenwalt:
ACATS is a simulation where you have people,
vehicles, that can move around in a real environment
using real terrain on a computer and they can train,
they can rehearse, they can try out different ideas
to try to solve a problem like a terrorist attack
on a facility.
Narrator:
Bob Greenwalt is deputy director of the JCATS project
and says the technology has already been successfully
tested in Seattle and the state of Alabama.
Greenwalt:
It's
an opportunity-rich environment and the biggest problem
we have is building our staff up large enough to continue
to meet a whole bunch of people's needs that we never
dreamed would come here asking for it.
Narrator:
For
Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
|
