【推荐1】Scientists have developed a blood test to diagnose (诊断) Alzheimer’s disease without the need for expensive brain imaging or a painful lumbar puncture (腰椎穿刺), where a sample of CSF (脑脊椎液) is drawn from the lower back. If effective, the test could enable faster diagnosis of the disease, meaning treatments could be done earlier.

Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia (痴呆), but diagnosis remains challenging — particularly during the earlier stages of the disease.

Current guidelines recommend detection of three distinct symptoms: abnormal accumulations of amyloid and tau proteins proteins, as well as neurodegeneration — the slow and progressive loss of neuronal cells in specified regions of the brain. This can be done through a combination of brain imaging and CSF analysis. However, a lumbar puncture can be painful and people may experience headaches or back pain after the procedure, while brain imaging is expensive and takes a long time to schedule.

Prof. Thomas Karikari at the University of Pittsburgh, in Pennsylvania, US, who was involved in the study, said: “A lot of patients, even in the US, don’t have access to MRI and PET scanners. Accessibility is a major issue.”

The development of a reliable blood test would be an important step forwards. “A blood test is cheaper, safer and easier to administer, and it can improve clinical confidence in diagnosing Alzheimer’s and selecting participants for clinical trial and disease monitoring,” Karikari said.

The next step will be to confirm the test in a broader range of patients, including those from varied racial and ethnic backgrounds, and those suffering from different stages of memory loss or other potential dementia symptoms.

Karikari also hopes that monitoring levels of brain-derived tau in the blood could improve the design of clinical trials for Alzheimer’s treatments.

【推荐2】Rhiannon Potkey writes about sports for a newspaper in Tennessee. She learned through that work that some young people did not have good sports equipment, or gear. She decided to do something about it.

Potkey started an aid group called Goods4Greatness. The charity connects teams and children who need sports equipment with donors. Like Aubree Munro, who is a player on the U.S.A. Women’s softball team. She was hoping to compete at the Olympics in Japan last year. When the event was delayed because of the COVID-19, Munro started cleaning out her home in Florida. She realized she had a lot of extra sports equipment. Munro had heard about Potkey’s organization. So she sent pictures of the gear she no longer needed. Potkey helped find people in Florida who could use the softball equipment.

Munro said by making the donation, she was “paying it forward.” One person who got some of her softball equipment was a girl who reminded Munro of herself when she was young. “That one was particularly special,” she said. “I had a lot of people who did really great things for me when I was growing up.” Munro said doing something nice for a stranger made her feel good.

Many people have donated to Goods4Greatness. The softball team at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina donated used equipment. Former U.S. Women’s Soccer star Julie Foudy donated 100 soccer balls. Colleges in states including Georgia, California and Colorado sent equipment, too.

Jarrett Walls is the tennis coach at a high school near Raleigh, North Carolina. He said many of his players never would have tried the sport if it had not been for the donation from Potkey’s charity. Last year, he said, only seven girls tried to play tennis. This year, he has about 30.

Potkey said, “I enjoy helping children play sports. I feel like there’s so much more need that I could help.”

【推荐2】Britain is divided into different areas. Britain is one of the most diverse nations in Europe with over 250 different languages being spoken in London alone. With such a various culture, adapting to it can be a challenge for anyone.     1    .

Forget the stereotypes (陈旧观念). Many of the long-formed stereotypes simply have nothing to do with Britain today. Don’t think that everyone enjoys drinking tea or beer. Abandoning some old ideas of people and culture will allow you to be more open-minded and easily get into the culture.

    2    . Britain is made up of different regions that have their different traditions and languages. Understanding different cultures will help you avoid making mistakes.

Get used to small spaces. Like all European nations, Britain does not have the luxury of space. Houses, apartments and cars are all smaller.     3    .

    4    . Always apologize for knocking into someone, even if it is his fault. Respect people’s personal space and always wait in line. Bill Bryson’s book Notes from a Small Island is filled with useful tips.

Accept the jokes.     5    . Kidding, teasing, and “taking the mick” are all ways to describe making fun of someone but this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Playing tricks on someone is a common way to show affection. As Britons usually put it, “You never make fun of someone you don’t like.”

【推荐3】Chinese and Western eating habits are different. In China, the dishes are placed on the table and everybody shares. It is always polite to let guests or elderly people at the table taste every dish first. But in the West, everyone has his or her own plate of food.

Although there are no strict rules on how to set chopsticks and spoons, there are some things you should never do during a Chinese banquet.

Firstly and most importantly, don’t put your chopsticks upright in the rice bowl. Instead, lay them on your dish. The reason for this is that when people die, family members give them a bowl full of rice with a pair of chopsticks sticking out upright in it. So if you stick your chopsticks into rice bowl, it appears that you want someone at the table to die.

Make sure the spout of the teapot is not facing anyone, as this is impolite. The spout should always be directed to where nobody is sitting, usually just outward from the table.

Don’t tap on your bowl with your chopsticks. Beggars tap on their bowls, so this is not polite. Also, when the food is coming too slow in a restaurant, you should not tap on your bowl. If you are in someone’s home, it is like insulting the cook.