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'''<h4>Hello Students, read the below article then on your own webpage on www.goodtoknow.com, write a short constructed response using "R-A-C-E-A-C-E" as instructed in class.</h4>'''
 
'''<h4>Hello Students, read the below article then on your own webpage on www.goodtoknow.com, write a short constructed response using "R-A-C-E-A-C-E" as instructed in class.</h4>'''
 
      
 
      
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       '''What are some ways that you can help improve the earth?'''
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       '''What happened to the research participants during the study?'''
 
       '''Use two details from the passage to support your response.'''
 
       '''Use two details from the passage to support your response.'''
  
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'''<h4>Today is Earth Day and Things YOU Can do to Help Save OUR World.</h4>'''
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'''<h4>Wish To Cleanse Your Brain Of Toxins? Get Your ZZZs</h4>'''
  
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<br><br>The first Earth Day was celebrated in 1970, when a United States senator from Wisconsin organized a national demonstration to raise awareness about environmental issues. Rallies took place across the country and, by the end of the year, the U.S. government had created the Environmental Protection Agency. By 1990, Earth Day was an event celebrated by more than 140 countries around the globe.
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BY HANNAH SHARIFF
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<br><br>You can celebrate and protect the planet at the same time. Check out these Earth Day ideas to help save the planet any time of year.
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<br><br>The number of garbage trucks Americans fill each year would stretch halfway to the moon. Toilet paper tubes, made from cardboard, take two months to decompose in a landfill. A plastic bottle sticks around for way longer—it can take over 450 years to break down! But instead of turning to the trash bin, you could turn these items into an awesome telescope or a flower planter. Before you throw something away, think about whether it can be recycled or repurposed. You can also limit waste by reducing the amount of things you buy. For example, check the library for that book you have to read before visiting the store.
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<br><br>Though considered a waste of time by some, sleep is essential for the health and wellbeing of humans. Over the years, researchers have found sleeping allows the body to repair and restore cells, get rid of irrelevant memories, and even help kids grow taller and obtain better grades. Now, it appears that snoozing for an average of 8 hours daily enables the brain to cleanse itself and get rid of harmful toxins.
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<br><br>Researchers estimate roughly 15 billion trees in the world are cut down each year, so help offset that loss by planting a tree of your own. Trees absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen for people to breathe. They also provide shelter and food for animals such as squirrels and owls. Depending on where trees are planted, their shade can even reduce the need for air-conditioning in hotter months. How many more reasons do you need to go green?
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<br><br>Does that lamp really need to be on while the sun is out? Electricity doesn’t just happen—it has to be produced from things around us. A lot of times it comes from fossil fuels (such as coal, oil, or natural gas) that contribute to climate change. But electricity can also be made from renewable sources like wind, water, the sun, and even elephant dung! No matter where it’s coming from, try conserving electrical energy by using only what you need.
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<br><br>The latest research follows up on a 2013 study, which found a dramatic increase in the flow of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in the brains of rats and baboons during sleep. The fluid helped wash away harmful waste proteins accumulated in their brain cells during the day. The process acts a bit "like a dishwasher," said Dr. Maiken Nedergard, a neuroscientist at the University of Rochester who led the 2013 effort.
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<br><br>It might seem like it’s everywhere, but clean, drinkable water is a limited resource. In fact less than one percent of the water on Earth can be used by humans. (The rest is either too salty or too difficult to access.) Turning off the faucet when you brush your teeth can conserve up to eight gallons of water a day. To help save even more water, challenge yourself to take a shorter shower (but still get clean!).
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<br><br>With a parent’s permission, volunteer to pick up trash at a nearby park, start a collection drive for recyclable items, or organize a screening of an environmentally-themed movie. By getting involved and working with others, you’re not just helping the Earth—you’re making new friends too!
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<br><br>Since one of the waste products removed from the mammals' brain was beta-amyloid, a substance that forms a sticky plaque associated with Alzheimer's, Nedergard wondered if his findings could offer a new understanding of the progressive disorder, which causes human brain cells to break down and die. Though the idea was certainly possible, more research is needed to be conducted to know that human brains "cleanse" in a similar fashion.
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<br><br>Talk to your friends and family members about what you’re doing and ask them to help. Need to get the conversation started? Get everyone together and reconnect with nature by taking one of our Get Outside challenges, or check out some other green tips you can share. The more people do, the better off our planet will be!
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<br><br>A team of scientists led by Dr. Laura Lewis, an assistant professor of biomedical engineering at Boston University, recently set out to do just that. To observe the brain during sleep, the researchers asked the study's 13 participants to avoid their comfortable beds and instead spend the night sleeping inside an MRI machine. Each person was also required to wear an EEG (electroencephalography) cap. The MRI machines allowed the scientists to measure the brain's blood oxygen and cerebrospinal fluid levels, while the EEG caps enabled them to monitor its electrical currents. "We had a sense each of these metrics was important, but how they change during sleep and how they relate to each other during sleep was uncharted territory for us," Dr. Lewis remarked. To emulate a realistic sleep cycle, the tests were conducted at midnight, and the subjects were asked to stay up late the night before to ensure they would drift into a deep sleep during the process.
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<br><br>The scientists, who published the results of the study in the journal Science in late 2019, found that similar to rats and baboons, large waves of cerebrospinal fluid washed through the participants' brains during non-REM sleep, the deepest part of the cycle. Even more interesting, the EEG readings showed that during this time, neurons started to turn off and on in a synchronized fashion. "There would be this electrical wave where all the neurons would go quiet," Dr. Lewis said. The halt in neuron activity caused less blood to flow into the brain, creating more room for the "cleansing" cerebrospinal fluid. The researchers are not sure how brain waves, blood flow, and CSF coordinate so perfectly. They speculate that as the blood leaves, pressure in the brain drops, and CSF quickly flows in to maintain a safe level of pressure.
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<br><br>Since patients with Alzheimer's have been observed to have less frequent and weaker brain waves, the researchers suspect that poor sleep in patients with neurological disorders may be impacting the brain's cleansing process and causing toxins to accumulate, eventually leading to degeneration.
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<br><br>"So we might expect that there are also fewer and smaller waves of cerebrospinal fluid in those disorders, and that might have an impact on how waste products are cleared," Dr. Lewis says. "We're running new studies to test how these CSF waves may change in healthy aging and in neurological disorders. We're also going to test whether this would be associated with less waste removal from the brain during sleep in these patients."
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<br><br>William Jagust, a professor of public health and neuroscience at the University of California, Berkeley, who was not involved in the study, believes the findings also suggest that people can reduce their risk of brain disorders like Alzheimer's by ensuring they prioritize high-quality sleep. So be sure to get your zzzs!

Revision as of 05:01, 24 April 2020

Hello Students, read the below article then on your own webpage on www.goodtoknow.com, write a short constructed response using "R-A-C-E-A-C-E" as instructed in class.

 
      What happened to the research participants during the study?
      Use two details from the passage to support your response.

Wish To Cleanse Your Brain Of Toxins? Get Your ZZZs

BY HANNAH SHARIFF



Though considered a waste of time by some, sleep is essential for the health and wellbeing of humans. Over the years, researchers have found sleeping allows the body to repair and restore cells, get rid of irrelevant memories, and even help kids grow taller and obtain better grades. Now, it appears that snoozing for an average of 8 hours daily enables the brain to cleanse itself and get rid of harmful toxins.



The latest research follows up on a 2013 study, which found a dramatic increase in the flow of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in the brains of rats and baboons during sleep. The fluid helped wash away harmful waste proteins accumulated in their brain cells during the day. The process acts a bit "like a dishwasher," said Dr. Maiken Nedergard, a neuroscientist at the University of Rochester who led the 2013 effort.



Since one of the waste products removed from the mammals' brain was beta-amyloid, a substance that forms a sticky plaque associated with Alzheimer's, Nedergard wondered if his findings could offer a new understanding of the progressive disorder, which causes human brain cells to break down and die. Though the idea was certainly possible, more research is needed to be conducted to know that human brains "cleanse" in a similar fashion.



A team of scientists led by Dr. Laura Lewis, an assistant professor of biomedical engineering at Boston University, recently set out to do just that. To observe the brain during sleep, the researchers asked the study's 13 participants to avoid their comfortable beds and instead spend the night sleeping inside an MRI machine. Each person was also required to wear an EEG (electroencephalography) cap. The MRI machines allowed the scientists to measure the brain's blood oxygen and cerebrospinal fluid levels, while the EEG caps enabled them to monitor its electrical currents. "We had a sense each of these metrics was important, but how they change during sleep and how they relate to each other during sleep was uncharted territory for us," Dr. Lewis remarked. To emulate a realistic sleep cycle, the tests were conducted at midnight, and the subjects were asked to stay up late the night before to ensure they would drift into a deep sleep during the process.



The scientists, who published the results of the study in the journal Science in late 2019, found that similar to rats and baboons, large waves of cerebrospinal fluid washed through the participants' brains during non-REM sleep, the deepest part of the cycle. Even more interesting, the EEG readings showed that during this time, neurons started to turn off and on in a synchronized fashion. "There would be this electrical wave where all the neurons would go quiet," Dr. Lewis said. The halt in neuron activity caused less blood to flow into the brain, creating more room for the "cleansing" cerebrospinal fluid. The researchers are not sure how brain waves, blood flow, and CSF coordinate so perfectly. They speculate that as the blood leaves, pressure in the brain drops, and CSF quickly flows in to maintain a safe level of pressure.

Since patients with Alzheimer's have been observed to have less frequent and weaker brain waves, the researchers suspect that poor sleep in patients with neurological disorders may be impacting the brain's cleansing process and causing toxins to accumulate, eventually leading to degeneration.



"So we might expect that there are also fewer and smaller waves of cerebrospinal fluid in those disorders, and that might have an impact on how waste products are cleared," Dr. Lewis says. "We're running new studies to test how these CSF waves may change in healthy aging and in neurological disorders. We're also going to test whether this would be associated with less waste removal from the brain during sleep in these patients."



William Jagust, a professor of public health and neuroscience at the University of California, Berkeley, who was not involved in the study, believes the findings also suggest that people can reduce their risk of brain disorders like Alzheimer's by ensuring they prioritize high-quality sleep. So be sure to get your zzzs!