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The
Annual RI Lectures for the U3A |
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Again the venue was the Friends Meeting House in London and
over 300 members from around the UK attended, including 6 from High
Lane. Three very different subjects were presented by a well a known
expert in each field. The content can be summarised as follows:-
Surviving Armageddon by Professor Bill McGuire
The Earth is like any other planet and due to the nature of its crust, it is subject to earthquakes, eruptions and tsunamis. Such events occur all the time causing localised destruction and loss of life in various degrees. Similarly meteors are continually colliding with earth but as they are relatively small, they burn up in the atmosphere before impact.
The real economy or even civilisation threatening dangers occur when their sizes are vastly increased to become super earthquakes, giant tsunamis, super volcanic eruptions or colliding asteroids. These are Global Geophysical Events (GGEs) and scientists all over the World are continually dedicated to identifying particular risk areas and monitoring the movement of tectonic plates and the trajectory of asteroids on near collision courses. We cannot stop these events but sufficient warning can allow evacuation and in the case of asteroids, the possibility of nudging them off course.
GGEs are not remote possibilities, they have happened in the past and they will again – the question is when. The last super eruption was the Toba eruption in what is now Yellowstone Park. This was 4000 years ago and the resultant sulphurous atmospheric dust obscured the sun creating a 1000 year world wide freeze.
The Enemy Within – Oxidative Stress & Cardiovascular Disease – by Professor Salvador Moncada
Biochemical processes in the body generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) which are normally mopped up by antioxidant defence mechanisms. Under certain conditions an imbalance can develop between the antioxidant defences and the formation of ROS. The resulting accumulation of ROS, called oxidative stress, causes their interaction with physiological mediators in the body which inactivate those mediators and result in the formation of toxic products.
An example of this is nitric oxide (NO), a blood vessel dilator and anti-thrombotic agent generated in the lining of blood vessels. This reacts with superoxide anion, inactivating the NO and leading to a condition where the blood vessels fail to respond normally to the beneficial stimuli of blood vessel dilators. This condition is predictive of cardiovascular disease and occurs in subjects with risk factors but no overt symptoms of the disease.
The considerable research carried out over the last 10 years has clearly established the detail of these relationships and in so doing, it has proven that a very small dose of Aspirin per day can control ROS generation and so reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.
The Truth about Hormones – by Vivienne Parry
Hormones rule our internal world : they control our growth, metabolism, weight, water balance, body clocks, fertility, muscle bulk, mood, speed of ageing, whether you want sex or not (and whether you enjoy it), and even who you fall in love with. Their effects may occur in seconds and be over in a flash, or take months and last for 30 years. Whilst we can name some hormones, we rarely know what they actually do, but we are probably right in blaming them when we behave erratically. Actually, they are chemical messengers in the blood stream and they consist of proteins, steroids and amino acids, (surprisingly cholesterol is actually needed to produce hormones).
There are several hormone deficiency diseases, Addisons being one which was suffered by John F. Kennedy and probably by Jane Austin. This is a very rare disorder in which the body becomes incapable of reacting to physical stresses due to a failure of the adrenal glands. Synthetic cortisone has become a successful treatment and was used by Kennedy but as it was only developed in 1948, far too late for Jane Austin.
Surviving Armageddon by Professor Bill McGuire
The Earth is like any other planet and due to the nature of its crust, it is subject to earthquakes, eruptions and tsunamis. Such events occur all the time causing localised destruction and loss of life in various degrees. Similarly meteors are continually colliding with earth but as they are relatively small, they burn up in the atmosphere before impact.
The real economy or even civilisation threatening dangers occur when their sizes are vastly increased to become super earthquakes, giant tsunamis, super volcanic eruptions or colliding asteroids. These are Global Geophysical Events (GGEs) and scientists all over the World are continually dedicated to identifying particular risk areas and monitoring the movement of tectonic plates and the trajectory of asteroids on near collision courses. We cannot stop these events but sufficient warning can allow evacuation and in the case of asteroids, the possibility of nudging them off course.
GGEs are not remote possibilities, they have happened in the past and they will again – the question is when. The last super eruption was the Toba eruption in what is now Yellowstone Park. This was 4000 years ago and the resultant sulphurous atmospheric dust obscured the sun creating a 1000 year world wide freeze.
The Enemy Within – Oxidative Stress & Cardiovascular Disease – by Professor Salvador Moncada
Biochemical processes in the body generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) which are normally mopped up by antioxidant defence mechanisms. Under certain conditions an imbalance can develop between the antioxidant defences and the formation of ROS. The resulting accumulation of ROS, called oxidative stress, causes their interaction with physiological mediators in the body which inactivate those mediators and result in the formation of toxic products.
An example of this is nitric oxide (NO), a blood vessel dilator and anti-thrombotic agent generated in the lining of blood vessels. This reacts with superoxide anion, inactivating the NO and leading to a condition where the blood vessels fail to respond normally to the beneficial stimuli of blood vessel dilators. This condition is predictive of cardiovascular disease and occurs in subjects with risk factors but no overt symptoms of the disease.
The considerable research carried out over the last 10 years has clearly established the detail of these relationships and in so doing, it has proven that a very small dose of Aspirin per day can control ROS generation and so reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.
The Truth about Hormones – by Vivienne Parry
Hormones rule our internal world : they control our growth, metabolism, weight, water balance, body clocks, fertility, muscle bulk, mood, speed of ageing, whether you want sex or not (and whether you enjoy it), and even who you fall in love with. Their effects may occur in seconds and be over in a flash, or take months and last for 30 years. Whilst we can name some hormones, we rarely know what they actually do, but we are probably right in blaming them when we behave erratically. Actually, they are chemical messengers in the blood stream and they consist of proteins, steroids and amino acids, (surprisingly cholesterol is actually needed to produce hormones).
There are several hormone deficiency diseases, Addisons being one which was suffered by John F. Kennedy and probably by Jane Austin. This is a very rare disorder in which the body becomes incapable of reacting to physical stresses due to a failure of the adrenal glands. Synthetic cortisone has become a successful treatment and was used by Kennedy but as it was only developed in 1948, far too late for Jane Austin.