What is Alzheimer’s disease?

There are many types and causes of dementia, but Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form, accounting for between 60 and 70 per cent of all cases.

Common early symptoms of Alzheimer’s include short-term memory loss, apathy and depressed mood, but these symptoms are often just seen as being a part of normal ageing, making early diagnosis difficult.

Doctors diagnose Alzheimer’s on the basis of medical examination, patient history and cognitive tests, and can use imaging to rule out other forms of dementia. However, a definitive diagnosis of Alzheimer’s is only possible after death, when examination of brain tissue can reveal whether a person had the deposits of amyloid and tau proteins that are characteristic of the condition.

Source http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/5/1/eaau3333(adapted)

Journal reference: Science Advances, DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aau3333

This article was updated on 30 January 2019 to add more detail and comment

Access: April 20th, 2019

Planet’s ocean-plastics problem detailed in 60-year data set

Researchers find evidence of rising plastic pollution in an accidental source: log books for planktonmonitoring instruments. Matthew Warren

Scientists have uncovered the first strong evidence that the amount of plastic polluting the oceans has risen vastly in recent decades — by analysing 60 years of log books for plankton-tracking vessels.

Data recorded by instruments known as continuous plankton recorders (CPRs) — which ships have collectively towed millions of kilometres across the Atlantic Ocean — show that the trackers have become entangled in large plastic objects, such as bags and fishing lines, roughly three times more often since 2000 than in preceding decades.

This is the first time that researchers have demonstrated the rise in ocean plastics using a single, longterm data set, says Erik van Sebille, an oceanographer at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. “I’m excited that this has been finally done,” he says. The analysis was published on 16 April in Nature Communications.

Although the findings are unsurprising, long-term data on ocean plastics had been scant: previous studies looked mainly at the ingestion of plastic by sea creatures over shorter timescales, the researchers say.

Fishing for data

CPRs are torpedo-like devices that have been used since 1931 to survey plankton populations, by filtering the organisms from the water using bands of silk. Today, volunteer ships such as ferries and container ships tow a fleet of CPRs around the world’s oceans.

(…)Each time a ship tows a CPR, the crew fills in a log book and notes any problems with the device. So Ostle and her colleagues looked through all tow logs from the North Atlantic between 1957 and 2016, to determine whether plastic entanglements have become more common.

Evidence analysis

(…)Van Sebille says that because the study focused on large plastic items, it doesn’t reveal much about the quantity of microplastics — fragments fewer than 5 millimetres long — in the oceans. These tiny contaminants come from sources such as disposable plastic packaging, rather than from fishing gear.

Nevertheless, he adds, the study demonstrates that fisheries play a major part in plastic pollution, and will provide useful baseline data for tracking whether policy changes affect the levels of plastic in the oceans. “As fisheries become more professional, especially in the North Sea, hopefully we might see a decrease,” he says.

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-01252-0 (adapted).

Access: April 20th, 2019

Smiling Can Actually Make People Happier, Study Finds

Researchers of a new study find that the simple act (1)______ smiling can actually make a person happier. Evidently, nearly 50 years of data shows facial expressions can affect an individual’s emotions or feelings.

Emotional Debate

For over 100 years, psychologists have been debating whether facial expressions can affect emotions. The argument became even more pronounced (2)______ 2016 after 17 teams of scientists failed to replicate a popular experiment that would supposedly show that smiling can actually make people happier.

While there are some studies that do not show a relationship (3)______facial expressions and emotional feelings, the researchers of the new study believe that they can’t focus on the data from just one. As such, they scoured data from 138 studies, which tested over 11,000 participants (4)_____ all over the world.

“But we can’t focus on the results of any one study. Psychologists have been testing this idea since the early 1970s, so we wanted to look at all the evidence,” said lead researcher Nicholas Coles, PhD.

Facial Expressions Affect People's Emotions

Based on the team’s meta-analysis, facial expressions do, in fact, have a small impact on emotions. For instance, a person who smiles will feel happier, a person who scowls will feel angrier, and a person who frowns will feel sadder. While the effects aren’t very powerful or long-lasting, it is significant enough to show a correlation.

According to researchers, their findings bring us closer to understanding how human emotions work and how the mind and body work together to shape how we experience emotions. That said, they do note that they are not saying that people can just smile their way to happiness, especially when it comes to mental health conditions such as depression.

The study is published in Psychological Bulletin.

Source: https://www.techtimes.com/articles/241396/20190413/smiling-can-actually-make-peoplehappier-study-finds.htm(adapted)Access: April 13th, 2019

Smiling Can Actually Make People Happier, Study Finds

Researchers of a new study find that the simple act (1)______ smiling can actually make a person happier. Evidently, nearly 50 years of data shows facial expressions can affect an individual’s emotions or feelings.

Emotional Debate

For over 100 years, psychologists have been debating whether facial expressions can affect emotions. The argument became even more pronounced (2)______ 2016 after 17 teams of scientists failed to replicate a popular experiment that would supposedly show that smiling can actually make people happier.

While there are some studies that do not show a relationship (3)______facial expressions and emotional feelings, the researchers of the new study believe that they can’t focus on the data from just one. As such, they scoured data from 138 studies, which tested over 11,000 participants (4)_____ all over the world.

“But we can’t focus on the results of any one study. Psychologists have been testing this idea since the early 1970s, so we wanted to look at all the evidence,” said lead researcher Nicholas Coles, PhD.

Facial Expressions Affect People's Emotions

Based on the team’s meta-analysis, facial expressions do, in fact, have a small impact on emotions. For instance, a person who smiles will feel happier, a person who scowls will feel angrier, and a person who frowns will feel sadder. While the effects aren’t very powerful or long-lasting, it is significant enough to show a correlation.

According to researchers, their findings bring us closer to understanding how human emotions work and how the mind and body work together to shape how we experience emotions. That said, they do note that they are not saying that people can just smile their way to happiness, especially when it comes to mental health conditions such as depression.

The study is published in Psychological Bulletin.

Source: https://www.techtimes.com/articles/241396/20190413/smiling-can-actually-make-peoplehappier-study-finds.htm(adapted)Access: April 13th, 2019

How can you stop your kids viewing harmful web content?

As concerns grow about the effect of harmful social media content on our children, we look at what tools are available for parents to regulate what kids see and how long they spend online.

The struggle to prise them away from a life spent online is a familiar one for many beleaguered parents. Our youngsters spend hours on Instagram chasing "likes" - and often coming up against cyber-bullying - or playing games, obsessing about YouTube influencers or surfing between different "friendship groups" on WhatsApp.

So how can we keep them safe from harmful content?

Content filtering software has been around for many years, but parents have often been too tech-shy to work it properly. And it often required children to hand over their passwords - a potential cause of family rows.

But now a new generation of digital parental controls has arrived on the market, promising to help parents take back control more easily.

• • UK plans social media and internet watchdog

Circle with Disney, Koala Safe and Ikydz, for example, are systems that claim to be able to control every digital device in your home with a few taps on a smartphone app. use, but is ?

The new products work by connecting to your existing household wi-fi router. In the case of Circle you plug in the white cube - clearly inspired by the Apple school of design - and it immediately lists every connected phone, laptop, tablet, and so on in your home, and offers a variety of ways to control them. (…)

(…) Anne Longfield, the Children's Commissioner for England, thinks it is good parenting to set limits.

"The internet can be a great resource, but it can also be the wild west for children. We wouldn't think it was OK to drop our children off in the park at night if they were younger," she says.

"In the same way we shouldn't think it is OK for them to roam the internet without any guidance or restrictions."

There are disadvantages with these latest filtering devices, though. Some don't work once your child's phone leaves the home and is no longer on home wi-fi. And they won't all work if the wi-fi is switched off and the internet is accessed via mobile data. Other products are also incompatible with some UK routers.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-47853554(adapted) Access: APRIL 18th,,2019

How can you stop your kids viewing harmful web content?

As concerns grow about the effect of harmful social media content on our children, we look at what tools are available for parents to regulate what kids see and how long they spend online.

The struggle to prise them away from a life spent online is a familiar one for many beleaguered parents. Our youngsters spend hours on Instagram chasing "likes" - and often coming up against cyber-bullying - or playing games, obsessing about YouTube influencers or surfing between different "friendship groups" on WhatsApp.

So how can we keep them safe from harmful content?

Content filtering software has been around for many years, but parents have often been too tech-shy to work it properly. And it often required children to hand over their passwords - a potential cause of family rows.

But now a new generation of digital parental controls has arrived on the market, promising to help parents take back control more easily.

• • UK plans social media and internet watchdog

Circle with Disney, Koala Safe and Ikydz, for example, are systems that claim to be able to control every digital device in your home with a few taps on a smartphone app. use, but is ?

The new products work by connecting to your existing household wi-fi router. In the case of Circle you plug in the white cube - clearly inspired by the Apple school of design - and it immediately lists every connected phone, laptop, tablet, and so on in your home, and offers a variety of ways to control them. (…)

(…) Anne Longfield, the Children's Commissioner for England, thinks it is good parenting to set limits.

"The internet can be a great resource, but it can also be the wild west for children. We wouldn't think it was OK to drop our children off in the park at night if they were younger," she says.

"In the same way we shouldn't think it is OK for them to roam the internet without any guidance or restrictions."

There are disadvantages with these latest filtering devices, though. Some don't work once your child's phone leaves the home and is no longer on home wi-fi. And they won't all work if the wi-fi is switched off and the internet is accessed via mobile data. Other products are also incompatible with some UK routers.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-47853554(adapted) Access: APRIL 18th,,2019

What is Alzheimer’s disease?

There are many types and causes of dementia, but Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form, accounting for between 60 and 70 per cent of all cases.

Common early symptoms of Alzheimer’s include short-term memory loss, apathy and depressed mood, but these symptoms are often just seen as being a part of normal ageing, making early diagnosis difficult.

Doctors diagnose Alzheimer’s on the basis of medical examination, patient history and cognitive tests, and can use imaging to rule out other forms of dementia. However, a definitive diagnosis of Alzheimer’s is only possible after death, when examination of brain tissue can reveal whether a person had the deposits of amyloid and tau proteins that are characteristic of the condition.

Source http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/5/1/eaau3333(adapted)

Journal reference: Science Advances, DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aau3333

This article was updated on 30 January 2019 to add more detail and comment

Access: April 20th, 2019

TOURISM IN TURKEY

Turkey's Tourism Took a Hit in 2016

by Isabel von Kessel,

Jul 13, 2017

Several major terrorist attacks in(1)____ Ankara, Istanbul and Diyarbakir, as well as an attempted coup d'état one year ago, made 2016 one of the worst years for (2)_____ Turkish tourism industry. After a ten-year-high of nearly 36,8 million visitors arriving in 2014, Turkey is facing a severe backlash that is hitting its tourism sector the hardest. Following the coup on 15 July 2016 and subsequent purges in Turkey, foreign visitor numbers have dropped dramatically (70 percent). By the end of last year visitor numbers fell to 25,4 million. While European holidaymakers and business people (notably the British and Germans) are still reluctant to pay a visit to Turkey, visitor numbers nevertheless increased from January to May 2017 by 16.3 percent when compared to the same time frame of the previous year. However, Russian citizens are increasingly making up for the declining tourist numbers from other countries: with more than 928,000 visitors coming from Russia up until the end of May, Germany was displaced as (3)_____ largest source of tourism for Turkey. (…)

Source:https://www.statista.com/chart/10270/tourism-in-turkey/(adapted)

Access:22^nd April, 2019