Biomagnetic Imaging–excerpts

 

Summary: The biomagnetic imaging program develops standards, measurement methods, and new magnetic imaging modalities for biomedical and environmental applications. Description: Biomagnetic Imaging Standards: Develops calibration structures (phantoms) and validates quantitative imaging protocols for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI); focusing on standards for cancer, brain, and multimodal imaging. Figure 1. NIST MRI system, diffusion, and breast phantoms Magnetic Nanoagents: Develops nanofabricated agents that can sense and report local properties including , agent ID, location, temperature, pH. Figure 2. (a) Microfabricated smart agents that have water proton resonance shifts to indicate particle ID, local temperature or pH. (b) Rare-earth doped iron oxide nanoparticle imaging agents. New magnetic imaging modalities: Developing ultralow field (ULF) MRI, magnetic resonance elastography, electron paramagnetic resonance imaging. www.nist.gov

Raw Pet Food

 

Pet owners have a variety of food choices to give their pets, even raw food. But some germs have been found in raw pet foods that can make pets and people sick, including Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes. Learn how to protect your pets and yourself from disease. What is raw pet food? Raw pet food consists primarily of meat, bones, organs, and eggs that have not been cooked or treated to remove harmful germs, like Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes. Raw pet food products are generally sold as frozen packages and ask the owner to thaw before serving. According to a recent study done by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, raw pet food is more likely than other types of pet food to have these harmful germs. These germs can cause serious illness in both pets and people. Don't feral dogs and cats eat raw food? Many pet owners who choose a raw diet for their pets point to the fact that when feral (wild) dogs and cats catch their prey, they eat it raw. While true, it is unknown how many of these animals get sick or die from eating their prey because they aren't typically brought to a veterinarian for care. Raw pet food could make your pet sick. Keep in mind that even if your pet seems healthy after eating raw food, they could become a carrier of germs like Salmonella. Can raw pet food make my pet sick? Yes, although not every pet will get sick after eating raw pet food. Keep in mind that even if your pet eats raw food and seems perfectly healthy, they could still become a carrier of germs like Salmonella. As a healthy carrier, your pet could then shed germs from the raw food to the environment when it poops. For pets that develop a Salmonella or Listeria infection after eating raw pet food, symptoms of infection can include: Nausea and vomiting Diarrhea, which may be bloody Fever Loss of appetite Decreased activity level It is important to call your veterinarian if your pet develops any of these symptoms. Can raw pet food make me sick? Yes. Handling raw pet food increases the risk you will come into contact with harmful germs. It also increases the risk of contaminating other surfaces like countertops and cutting boards with those germs. Salmonella infection in people typically causes fever, diarrhea, vomiting, and stomach cramps for 4-7 days. Most people recover without treatment. Those at a higher risk for a severe Salmonella infection, include young children, older adults, and people with weak immune systems. Listeria infection can cause a serious, life-threatening illness. People at highest risk for Listeria infections include pregnant women and their fetuses, newborns, older adults, and people with weak immune systems. People in these higher risk groups should not handle raw pet food. If you decide to feed your pet raw food, don’t let your pet lick your face after eating and wash your hands after playing with them. I want to feed my pet raw food. What can I do to stay healthy? Wash your hands and surfaces thoroughly after handling raw pet food. Wash your hands with soap and water right after handling any raw pet food. Clean and disinfect all surfaces that the raw food touched. These surfaces can include countertops, microwaves, refrigerators and also utensils like knives, forks, and bowls. Safely store and handle raw pet food. Keep raw pet food away from other food in your refrigerator or freezer. Freeze raw pet food until you are ready to use it. Let it thaw on the lowest shelf in the refrigerator, away from other foods, and never on a countertop or in a sink. Throw away any food your pet does not eat. Safely play with your pet after it eats. Do not let your pet lick around your mouth and face after eating. If you do play with your pet after they have just eaten, wash your hands (and any other parts of your body they licked) with soap and water. Clean up after your pet carefully. For dogs, pick up poop and discard it into a tightly sealed plastic bag. For cats, scoop litter daily and discard poop into a tightly sealed plastic bag. Place all pet poop into a closed trash can. Wash your hands with soap and water right after cleaning up after your pet. Before making changes to your pet's diet, it's a good idea to first discuss it with your veterinarian.

20 Facts About Air Travel

 

John Lund/Blend Images/Getty Images The next time you board a plane, it might never occur to you that you're inside a pressurized tube traveling at hundreds of miles per hour though air that's too thin to breathe and so cold it would free you in seconds if you were exposed to it – and that's just one example of the many truths about air travel we take for granted. Here are 20 more. 1. There are around 7,000 flights in the air at any one time (And that's just over the U.S.) 2. There are no less than 20 flights per day between New York and London And that's just if you use JFK and Heathrow as your airports. If you add in Newark and London Gatwick, the figure balloons to more than 30.  3. But that's not the world's busiest international air route Not even close. The busiest, between Hong Kong and Taipei, Taiwan, carries 680,000 passengers per month, or more than three times as many as travel between New York and London.  4. More than a million people fly the world's busiest domestic air route every month (From Tokyo-Haneda Airport to New Chitose Airport in Sapporo, Japan.) 5. Whereas only 350,000 people fly the busiest U.S. domestic route (Between Los Angeles and San Francisco.) 6. The average flight travels at 35,000 feet That's about seven miles above the surface of the Earth. 7. At a speed of about 550 miles per hour That's about 9 times faster than the average highway speed limit. 8. With outside temperatures of around -65ºF That's colder than almost anywhere on Earth at any given moment of the year. 9. Flying is greener than you think Although planes might seem like flying emissions factories, global air travel accounts for just 2% of humans' annual CO2 emissions. 10. And it's getting greener Today's airplanes are around 70% more fuel efficient than the first jets. 11. Caterers prepare more than 100,000 meals per day (For Singapore's Changi Airport alone.) 12. Most global airlines serve meals free of charge It's essentially just U.S. carriers and international low-cost carriers who charge. 13. The average international economy-class air ticket consists mostly of fees You can use any strategy you want to score cheap flights, but no matter how low your airfare itself gets, you'll still be liable for fuel surcharges, departure taxes, security fees and other costs you'll only find in the fine print of your air ticket. 14. Most airlines depend completely on premium passengers to turn a profit I'd imagine Etihad's margin on The Residence, a three-room apartment that goes for as much as $40,000 one-way, is pretty high. 15. Approximately 30 million aircraft departures occurred in 2011 That number is expected to balloon to 59 million by 2030. 16. Aviation is by far the safest form of travel In spite of high-profile incidents like the Malaysia Airlines disappearance, only .24 of every one million departures (about 0.000024%) of airline departures resulted in a fatal crash, for a total of 761 deaths. By contrast, approximately 1.3 million people die in road crashes every year. 17. For bags? Not so much The Wall Street Journal estimates that airlines lost 21.8 million bags in 2013, or about 7 bags per 1,000 passengers. 18. Bags are a huge source of profit, though Baggage fees, anyway: Upwards of $3.35 billion in 2013 alone. 19. So are change fees $2.81 billion, which for most U.S. carriers breaks down to $200 (for domestic flights) and $300 (for international flights). 20. More than 20 flights took off while you read this article And that's just at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, the world's busiest.

Speeding Up 3-D Printing

 

A company’s novel technology could make custom medical devices and car parts— not to mention shoes that fit just right. 1. A technician pours viscous polymer precursors into the printer well. The window at the bottom lets in light from an underlying ultraviolet-light projector and is permeable to oxygen. 3-D printers can make objects that are impossible or expensive to make with molding, milling, and other conventional manufacturing processes. However, these printers work too slowly to be widely used in factories. That’s because today’s version of the technology builds up objects one layer at a time. It’s essentially 2-D printing over and over again, says chemical engineer Joseph DeSimone, founder and CEO of Carbon 3D, a startup in Redwood City, California. His company claims to have a technology that is 25 to 100 times faster, depending on the object and the material. DeSimone hopes Carbon 3D’s printers will be used to make airplane or car parts that are stronger and yet lighter than ones used today, helping to reduce fuel consumption. He also wants to make it possible to rapidly print custom shoe soles, fitted to the quirks of individual arches, and place printers in operating rooms to generate stents matched to patients’ arteries. 2-4. Frame by frame, the ultraviolet light projects the design into the chemical bath. Some of the light is visible as a violet glow. 5-6. As the exposed chemical precursors harden, a mechanical arm pulls the growing object out of the bath. A thin layer of oxygen at the bottom of the bath keeps the hardening patterns from sticking. 7. A technician removes the completed object, which took 17 minutes to print. The company says this structure can be made in seven minutes when the process is not slowed down for photographs. 8. This is an enlarged model of the structure of bone. A pattern like this can’t be made using a mold, and it would be very involved to make by milling away material from a solid polymer block. A model of the Eiffel Tower being made out of the resin. 9. A pattern of struts inside this 3-D-printed cylinder of hard resin adds extra strength without adding much weight. This kind of design might be used to replace metal support structures in airplane seats, according to the company. 10–11 The printers can also build objects from bouncy, flexible elastomers, which could be well suited for wearable items like shoe soles and headphones. Elastomers are incompatible with traditional additive manufacturing, says DeSimone. Carbon 3D’s process is a variation on a method called stereolithography, which uses projected patterns of ultraviolet light to catalyze the formation of solid polymers from a pool of resin. Stereolithography is typically a stop-and-start process—the object being printed sticks to the bottom of whatever vessel it’s in and must be pried off after each flash of light. Repeating this process with each layer is slow and leaves the completed object mechanically weak where each layer connects to another. In Carbon 3D’s version, the pool of liquid resin sits in a vessel with a window at the bottom. The window is permeable like a contact lens, so it lets in not only light but also oxygen—which inhibits the chemical reaction just enough to prevent the polymer from solidifying on the bottom. That allows Carbon 3D to continuously print one layer on top of the next, which makes the process much faster and the resulting materials stronger, says DeSimone. “It looks like something growing out of a puddle,” he says. Other researchers have demonstrated printing systems that incorporate some of the techniques used in Carbon 3D’s machines, and some of these methods can print features with higher resolutions than the company’s process. DeSimone, who founded Carbon 3D in 2013 and is on leave from the University of North Carolina to work at the company, has $51 million in funding to further develop the printers and polymer materials that will be its first products. This March, the company came out of stealth mode with a Science paper describing its technology and a captivating video of a small blue model of the Eiffel Tower emerging rapidly from a viscous little pool. DeSimone says that while most commercial 3-D printing systems have been designed by mechanical engineers, his chemistry focus sets Carbon 3D apart. “We want to offer materials properties that haven’t been seen before,” he says.

Somewhere over the rainbow

 

Logo após a inauguração da loja “O Boticário” em Paranapanema

 

Responsibility Of A Mother

 

It is easy to understand why parents are often worried and anxious about their children’s safety. As society becomes more complicated and hectic, dangers increase as well. As a parent, you will naturally do your best to keep your child out of harm’s way. The responsibilities of a loving mother never end, and you will accept them willingly. Whether it is looking out for your child’s best interests or simply being there for support, a mother’s love is unconditional. Responsibility Of A Mother Perhaps the most important role you will have as a mother is being a provider - of a good home, proper nutrition, and physical and emotional support. It may seem like a never-ending chore, but most woman take to motherhood like second nature the minute they are declared ‘Mommy’. If you are a first-time mom and the responsibilities seem overly taxing, don’t despair. You can always form support groups with other mums to share useful tips to child-caring. Also, make sure you include your partner in taking care of the baby. After all, it is a family you built together. If anything, it should be a time you learn about yourself as well as your baby. Take it all in positive strides, even when it seems like your newborn is getting out of hand. And if all else fails, there is always good, old mom to call in case of emergencies! Discipline Your Child You’re probably tired of hearing this and are actually contemplating letting junior do whatever his friend’s mum lets her kid do. But the minute you give in is also the minute you give up on teaching your child discipline. While you do not want to be a parent who holds the reins too tightly, you do not want to be one who is overly lax with rules. The last thing you need is not having control over your child and having him or her walk all over you. Talk to them and tell them why rules are important. Tell your child why certain things are off-limits, instead of just saying ‘NO!’ with no reason. And no matter how hard it may seem, you must follow the rules you have set. If you change the rules all the time, your child will not take you seriously. Child Safety One of the most important things a mother wants to ensure is the safety of her child. A safe environment is something you must provide your child. With the flood of news these days about murders, rapes, snatch thefts, etc, it is easy to see why you are tempted to just shut the doors and keep your family inside. But this, you know, is just not realistic. So what is a mother to do? Teach your child the importance of safety and staying away from situations that could result in harm. You should teach your child how to evaluate a given situation to determine whether it is one that will result in danger. Teach your child basic safety rules - not to talk to strangers, stay away from harmful materials like fire, knives, to be alert and to always tell an adult when he or she feels scared or uneasy in certain situations. However, drilling in these rules will not help if you do not explain why it is important to adhere to them. The better you explain and reason with your children, the easier it is for them to make up their own minds and rules the next time they are faced with a potentially dangerous situation. Dealing With Teenagers One minute your five-year-old is happily singing nursery rhymes, next she is a 14-year-old prancing in short skirts and belly-baring tops. What happened to the sweet little thing who is now a sulking pre-teen who thinks everyone is out to make life miserable for her? Dealing with teenagers is one of the biggest challenges for a parent. You never know what is going through their minds, they don’t come jumping telling you everything like they did before, they start going out with people you’ve never heard of, listen to music that makes you cringe, wear clothes you don’t approve of, stay cooped up in the room most of the time and, worst of all, seem to think you are out to get them. At this stage, we don’t blame you if you think your child is really from another planet! You’ve seen how celebrities are portrayed on TV. You’ve read all about their racy lives and their partying habits. What’s worst is that these celebrities are barely out of their teens! And when your pre-teen idolizes these celebrities and tries to mimic their lifestyles without realizing the repercussions, you know you have a major headache at hand. But because celebrities and the media play a major part in today’s society, it is not something you can shield from your children’s lives. Magazines are easily attainable, TV programs run all day and the Internet is easily accessible, all this making it that much easier to be influenced by the glamorous lifestyles of the rich and famous. So how do you relate to your teenager then? Perhaps a good start would be patience. Don’t immediately slip into defensive mode when disciplining your child. Treating your teenager like he or she is still 10 is also a mistake. You must realize (and come to terms with the fact) that your child is growing up and able to make decisions. Because of this, you must start treating your child like an adult, talking and reasoning as you would with your peers. Yet even as they are growing up, teenagers still require a fair amount of guidance. Let them seek that guidance from you. Instead of being unapproachable, always tell your teenager children that you have their best interests at heart. Talk to them constantly about their friends, what’s going on in their lives. Don’t talk down to them; instead, try to see things from their point of view and try to understand what they are going through. Being a teenager is never easy - after all, you were there once, too! Mother’s Support Your child has gone from an infant to a young adulthood - yet you can’t help but still worry about him or her. After all, a mother’s love or worry does not cease as the child grows older. However, as tempted as you may be to still want to control your child’s life, stop. Your role as a protective mother should end and develop into one of support instead. Rest assure that you have taught your children enough for them to make their own decisions, and even if some decisions are wrong, they will be able to make other decisions to set things straight. If you find your children in dire need of help, but too proud to come to you, go to them instead. Stop the nagging and the blaming; instead, listen and try to offer your viewpoint so that she or he will be able to have more information to make sound decisions. Allow your children to enjoy the rest of their lives as individuals, but provide the support they need in times of difficulty. And even if you think ‘Mother knows best’, you don’t have to keep telling your children this. Eventually, they will find it out for themselves!

Very Tasty Goji Berry

 

For years, mom has been feeding me with herbal soups. Little did I realize that the little red seed like fruits in her brewed Chinese herbal soups were goji berries! All those years growing up, I must have consumed thousands of goji berries. Grandma still chews dried goji berries the way we eat peanuts. Chinese call them gou qi zi. Zi means berry. Since antiquity, the Chinese have used goji berries in medicines and cuisine. The Latin name is more sophisticated - Lycium barbarum. Mom buys bulk goji berries and they are the dried version. She’s a firm believer that it is good for every part of the body. Traditionally, the Chinese used goji berries to treat eye conditions, diabetes, anaemia and even to improve sex life. Today, modern Chinese and Western scientists have researched and verified the traditional Chinese claims made for goji berry. They have discovered that regular consumption of goji berry helps improve the immune system because of its high antioxidant properties. Goji berry has 4 different polysaccharides, which are forms of phytonutrient compounds. Scientists refer these as master molecules because they are able to regulate multiple bodily functions and the immune system. Traditional Chinese doctors have always believed that goji berry is the best ingredient in herbal tonics to maintain liver and kidney health. Modern science has now discovered that goji berry’s polysaccharides have the ability to reduce the oxidation of fatty matters in liver cells. Japanese scientists, in preliminary researches, have discovered that goji berry’s polysaccharides also inhibit the growth of cancerous liver cells and leukemia. Many elderly people become blind because of age related macular degeneration. Traditional Chinese doctors have been prescribing goji berry to such people because they claim it is helpful in improving eyesight. Once again, modern science proves this to be true. Goji berry has an important carotenoid component known as zeaxanthin that is beneficial as a supplement for the eyes. It is selectively absorbed into the central retina, or macula. Along with another compound known as lutein, the peripheral retina also improves in health. So, start feeding your aged parents goji berries to prevent their eyesight from failing. There is much interest among scientists to find more medicinal benefits in goji berry. In China, researchers are trying to determine whether the antioxidant properties of the goji berry can help improve cardiovascular health. They are also interested in finding out whether it can be used to treat inflammatory diseases or is beneficial as an anti cancer agent. With so much medicinal potential in it, don’t be surprised if goji berry becomes as popular as ginseng one day! Not only goji berries have tremendous health benefits, they taste very good as well. There are many goji berry recipes available free online, from puddings to meatloafs. I especially like Goji Energy Bars. They are far better than the usual energy bars from you get the stores. You don’t need to be a chef to to them as the recipes are so simple to follow.

12 Powerfoods to Beat Diabetes

 

Can controlling your blood sugar and preventing diabetes complications be as simple as eating the right foods? Yes. Certain foods are packed with nutrients that stabilize blood sugar levels, protect your heart, and even save your vision from the damaging effects of diabetes. These 12 foods can give you an extra edge against diabetes and its complications. 1. Apples In a Finnish study, men who ate the most apples and other foods high in quercetin had 20 percent less diabetes and heart disease deaths. Other good sources of quercetin are onions, tomatoes, leafy green vegetables, and berries. 2. Cinnamon A study at the Human Nutrition Research Center in Beltsville, Maryland, found that if you use ½ teaspoon of cinnamon daily, it can make cells more sensitive to insulin. Therefore, the study says, the cells convert blood sugar to energy. After 40 days of taking various amount of cinnamon extract, diabetics experienced not only lower blood sugar spikes after eating, but major improvements in signs of heart health. And you can sprinkle cinnamon on just about anything. 3. Citrus Fruit Studies show that people with diabetes tend to have lower levels of vitamin C in their bodies, so antioxidant-packed citrus fruit is a great snack choice. It may seem quicker to get your C from a pill, but since fruit is low in fat, high in fiber, and delivers lots of other healthy nutrients, it's a better choice. 4. Cold-Water Fish Heart disease strikes people with diabetes twice as often as it does people without the illness, according to the American Diabetes Association. Diets high in omega-3 fatty acids—the "good fat" in cold-water fish such as wild Alaskan salmon, sardines, and Atlantic mackerel—can help lower artery-clogging LDL cholesterol and triglycerides while raising levels of HDL (good) cholesterol. 5. Fiber-Rich Foods A study at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center found that people who increased their fiber intake from 24 to 50 g daily had dramatic improvements in blood sugar levels. In fact, the high-fiber diet was as effective as some diabetes medications. Rather than try to figure out exactly how much fiber is in different foods, focus on trying to get a total of 13 daily servings of a mixture of fruits, vegetables, beans, brown rice, and whole grain pastas, cereals, and breads. 6. Legumes Legumes of all sorts—chickpeas, cannelloni beans, kidney beans, and lentils—are a great addition to soups, salads, and a variety of ethnic dishes. And this low-fat, low-calorie, high-fiber, high-protein food helps to reduce risk of diabetes and heart disease. The fiber slows the release of glucose into your bloodstream, which prevents the blood sugar spikes that worsen diabetes blood sugar control and make you feel hungry. 7. Green Tea Studies show that chronic inflammation—caused by high-fat foods, lack of exercise, and eating too few fruits, vegetables, and good fats—can increase risk of hearts attacks and thwart the body's ability to absorb blood sugar. A simple solution: Drink green tea and orange or cranberry juice. They're all packed with flavonoids—powerful inflammation-fighters. Swap one in for one cup of coffee a day. 8. Nuts Studies show that people who eat nuts regularly have lower rates of heart disease than people who don't eat them. (People with diabetes are at increased risk of heart disease.) Even among the healthiest eaters, the ones who also eat nuts boast the best health record. Exactly why isn't known yet, but one reason could be compounds called tocotrienols. The key to eating nuts is not to eat too many; they're so high in calories that you could easily see the aftermath pouring over your pants. Either measure 2 tablespoons of nuts, count how many it is, and limit yourself to that number, or keep a jar of chopped nuts on hand. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons a day on cereal, yogurt, veggies, salads, or wherever the flavor appeals to you. 9. Spinach, Kale, and Collard Greens All of these green leafy vegetables are good sources of lutein, a carotenoid that's good for the eyes. That's especially important because people with diabetes may develop debilitating eye problems as complications of the disease. These foods are also great sources of fiber, B vitamins, iron, calcium, and vitamin C. 10. Chocolate Researchers at Tufts University discovered that dark chocolate improves insulin sensitivity, a crucial improvement in preventing or treating type 2 diabetes. What's more, dark—but not white—chocolate also produced a significant drop in blood pressure, reduced LDL (bad) cholesterol, and improved blood vessel function. Just don't overdo it. Dark chocolate is great for the occasional indulgence, but it still packs a lot of fat and calories. 11. Steak There's something in steak besides the protein, iron, and B vitamins that's good for us. It's a compound that's part of beef's fat profile called conjugated linoleic acid (CLA). Doctors Michael Murray and Michael Lyon point out in their book Beat Diabetes Naturally that experiments have shown that CLA works to correct impaired blood sugar metabolism and also appears to have significant anti-cancer properties. In the most recent research, scientists in Norway supplemented the diets of 180 people with a few grams of CLA and reported that they lost 9 percent of their body weight in one year. For a 200-pounder, that's an 18-pound weight loss! To get CLA from steak, choose meat from range-fed beef. Eating natural pasturage give these animals far more healthful CLA than the usual grain-rich diet. And keep portions to 3 or 4 ounces. 12. Vinegar Two tablespoons of vinegar taken before a meal can help your blood sugar go down. A study at Arizona State University East tested three different groups of people to see what the results would be in healthy people, those with prediabetes (they had signs diabetes was developing), and confirmed diabetics. Before each of two meals a day, the subjects were given 2 tablespoons of ordinary vinegar. The results: An hour after the vinegar treatment, the diabetics had blood sugar levels that were 25 percent lower than without vinegar. The prediabetics had an even better result: Their levels were lower by about half. Recipes>>   http://www.menshealth.com

Photography-Like Oil Paintings

 

Posted: 04 Jul 2015 09:00 AM PDT

Le peintre et dessinateur Michael Zavros est à l’origine de peintures à l’huile impressionnantes de réalisme. Que ce soient des vases de fleurs posés sur une table, des animaux, des intérieurs décorés ou des portraits, le relief apporté à ses créations leur donne une apparence photographique troublante.