ZEBRA

Swahili Name: Punda Milia

Scientific Name: Burchell’s zebra (Equus burchellii); Grevy’s zebra (Equus grevyi)

Size: 45 to 55 inches at the shoulder (Burchell’s); 50 to 60 inches (Grevy’s)

Weight: Burchell’s: 485 to 550 pounds (Burchell’s); 770 to 990 pounds (Grevy’s)

Lifespan: 40 years in captivity

Habitat: Woodlands to open plains

Diet: Herbivores Gestation: 12 months (Burchell’s); 13 months (Grevy’s)

Predators: Lions, hyenas, hunting dogs, leopards, cheetahs

Zebras, horses and wild asses are all equids, long-lived animals that move quickly for their large size and have teeth built for grinding and cropping grass. Zebras have horselike bodies, but their manes are made of short, erect hair, their tails are tufted at the tip and their coats are striped.

Three species of zebra still occur in Africa, two of which are found in East Africa. The most numerous and widespread species in the east is Burchell’s, also known as the common or plains zebra. The other is Grevy’s zebra, named for Jules Grevy, a president of France in the 1880s who received one from Abyssinia as a gift, and now found mostly in northern Kenya. (The third species, Equus zebra, is the mountain zebra, found in southern and southwestern Africa.)

Physical Characteristics

The long-legged Grevy’s zebra, the biggest of the wild equids, is taller and heavier than the Burchell’s, with a massive head and large ears.

Zebras have shiny coats that dissipate over 70 percent of incoming heat, and some scientists believe the stripes help the animals withstand intense solar radiation. The black and white stripes are a form of camouflage called disruptive coloration that breaks up the outline of the body. Although the pattern is visible during daytime, at dawn or in the evening when their predators are most active, zebras look indistinct and may confuse predators by distorting true distance.

The stripes on Grevy’s zebras are more numerous and narrow than those of the plains zebra and do not extend to the belly. In all zebra species, the stripes on the forequarters form a triangular pattern; Grevy’s have a similar pattern on the hindquarters, while others have a slanted or horizontal pattern.

Habitat

Burchell’s zebras inhabit savannas, from treeless grasslands to open woodlands; they sometimes occur in tens of thousands in migratory herds on the Serengeti plains. Grevy’s zebras are now mainly restricted to parts of northern Kenya. Although they are adapted to semi-arid conditions and require less water than other zebra species, these zebras compete with domestic livestock for water and have suffered heavy poaching for their meat and skins.

Behavior

Family groups are stable members maintaining strong bonds over many years. Mutual grooming, where zebras stand together and nibble the hair on each other’s neck and back, helps develop and preserve these bonds. Family members look out for one another if one becomes separated from the rest, the others search for it. The group adjusts its traveling pace to accommodate the old and the weak.

The females within a family observe a strict hierarchical system. A dominant mare always leads the group, while others follow her in single file, each with their foals directly behind them. The lowest- ranking mare is the last in line. Although the stallion is the dominant member of the family, he operates outside the system and has no special place in the line.

Diet

Zebras are avid grazers. Both Burchell’s and Grevy’s zebras are in constant search of green pastures. In the dry season, they can live on coarse, dry grass only if they are within a short distance (usually no farther than 20 miles away) of water holes.

Caring for the Young

When a foal is born the mother keeps all other zebras (even the members of her family) away from it for 2 or 3 days, until it learns to recognize her by sight, voice and smell.

While all foals have a close association with their mothers, the male foals are also close to their fathers. They leave their group on their own accord between the ages of 1 and 4 years to join an all-male bachelor group until they are strong enough to head a family.

Predators

Zebras are important prey for lions and hyenas, and to a lesser extent for hunting dogs, leopards and cheetahs. When a family group is attacked, the members form a semicircle, face the predator and watch it, ready to bite or strike should the attack continue. If one of the family is injured the rest will often encircle it to protect it from further attack.

Garlic

Garlic is believed to ward off heart disease, cancer, colds, and flu. The consumption of garlic lowers blood cholesterol levels. and reduces the buildup of plaque in the arteries.

It was even once used to treat acne, warts, and toothaches.

The psychological term for fear of garlic is alliumphobia.

The origin of National Garlic Day is unknown and it is not recorded in congressional or presidential proclamations.

Garlic is said to fight off evil spirits and keep vampires away.

If your garlic has sprouted, it is still usable although it has lost some of its flavor and health benefits.

The smell of garlic can be removed by running your hands under cold water while rubbing a stainless steel object.

Garlic is a member of the onion family which also includes leeks and shallots.

Its pungent flavor is due to a chemical reaction that occurs when the garlic cells are broken. The flavor is most intense just after mincing.

The majority of garlic (90%) grown in the United States comes from California.

If your rose garden is being attacked by aphids, an excellent home remedy to get rid of them is to spritz the leaves and blooms with a mixture of crushed garlic and water.

When picking out garlic at the grocery store, choose firm, tight, heavy dry bulbs.

Garlic has been used to infuse vodka and as an ingredient to make cocktails.

HITLER

Hitler never allows anyone to see him while he is naked or bathing. He refuses to use cologne or scents of any sort on his body

No matter how warm he feels, Hitler will never take off his coat in public

In 1923, Nazi press secretary Dr. Sedgwick tried to convince Hitler to get rid of his trademark mustache or grow it normally. Hitler answered: “Do not worry about my mustache. If it is not the fashion now, it will be later because I wear it!”

While dining with the others, Hitler will allow the conversation to linger on general topics, but after a couple of hours he will inevitably begin one of his many monologues.

These speeches are flawless from start to finish because he rehearses them any time he gets a moment.   His favorite topics include: “When I was a soldier,” “When I was in Vienna,” “When I was in prison,” and “When I was the leader in the early days of the party.”

If Hitler begins speaking about Wagner and the opera, no one dares interrupt him. He will often sermonize on this topic until his audience falls asleep.

Hitler has no interest in sports or games of any kind and never exercised, except for an occasional walk.   He paces frequently inside rooms, always to the same tune that he whistles to himself and always diagonally across the room, from corner to corner.

Hitler’s handwriting is impeccable. When famous psychologist Carl Jung saw Hitler’s handwriting in 1937, he remarked: “Behind this handwriting I recognize the typical characteristics of a man with essentially feminine instinct.”

Hitler loves the circus. He takes real pleasure in the idea that underpaid performers are risking their lives to please him.

He went to the circus on several occasions in 1933 and sent extremely expensive chocolates and flowers to the female performers. Hitler even remembered their names and would worry about them and their families in the event of an accident.

 He isn’t interested in wild animal acts, unless there is a woman in danger   Nearly every night Hitler will see a movie in his private theatre, mainly foreign films that are banned to the German public.

He loves comedies and will often laugh merrily at Jewish comedians. Hitler even liked a few Jewish singers, but after hearing them he would remark that it was too bad he or she wasn’t Aryan.

Hitler staff secretly made films for him of torture and execution of political prisoners, which he very much enjoyed viewing.

His executive assistants also secured pornographic pictures and movies for him. He loves newsreels – especially when he is in them.

He adores gypsy music, Wagner’s operas, and especially American college football marches and alma maters.

To excite the masses, he also uses American College football-style music during his speeches. His rallying cry – “Sieg Heil!” – was even modeled after the cheering techniques used by American football cheerleaders.

Kidneys

Kidneys are vital organs, performing some of the most important functions in our body. They are sophisticated processing machines that keep our blood clean and chemically balanced.   It goes without saying that the more you know about your body and your health, the more control you have over your life.

As a Nephrologist, specializing in Chronic Kidney Disease and Hypertension, I decided to share some interesting information with my readers, pertaining to Kidney disease and Kidney health. I hope you will find the facts outlined below interesting and useful.

Our Kidneys have a higher blood flow than our brain, liver or heart.

The Kidneys absorb and distribute 99.9% of the blood volume. Only 0.1% of the blood filtered turns into urine.

Each Kidney is about 5 inches long (13 centimeters) and weighs approximately 4 to 6 ounces (120-140 grams).

The Kidneys filter almost 200 quarts of blood every day.

1 in 9 adults in America, or at least 26 million Americans, have Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) and millions more are at increased risk. According to The American Society of Nephrology, the number of people diagnosed with Kidney disease has doubled for the last decade. I would strongly recommend blood and urine tests to detect early signs of the disorder.

Risk factors for CKD include: diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, obesity, advanced age, family history of CKD, and tobacco use.

Each kidney has about a million tiny nephrons. A nephron is the basic functional unit of the kidney. It has a group of tiny blood vessels called a glomerulus, the small structure responsible for filtering and cleaning blood as it flows through the kidney. Most kidney diseases attack the nephrons, causing them to lose filtering capacity. Interestingly, Kidney diseases destroy the nephrons slowly and silently. The damage will become apparent only years or even decades later.

The most frequent causes of Kidney disease are Diabetes and High blood pressure. Other causes include, Glomerulonephritis (inflammation of the glomerulus) and Polycystic Kidney Disease (an inherited disease, causing large cysts to form in the kidney). What most people don’t realize is that taking over-the-counter pain-relieving medicines, can also result in Kidney disorder. Please keep in mind that these medicines can be toxic to your Kidneys and may even provoke some serious damage.

Heart disease is very common among people with Chronic Kidney Disease. CKD patients are more likely than the general population to develop heart condition. That’s why following all the necessary steps to prevent heart problems is absolutely crucial. What they should do is eat healthy foods, exercise on a regular basis and kick a smoking habit (in case they smoke). CKD patients should cut down on foods that contain saturated fat, such as eggs, milk, cheese and fried foods. Healthy foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids should become a part of their dietary regime. I cannot stress enough the importance of salmon, albacore tuna, sardines, walnuts or flaxseed oil in your diet.

Dialysis and Kidney Transplantation can extend the lives of people with Kidney failure. Fortunately, there are ways to prevent Kidney disease. Kidney-related disorders usually occur gradually over time. That’s why it is always better to identify potential disorder early on. Time is of the essence – early detection can slow the progression of CDK and protect your health.

Only one donated Kidney is needed to replace two failed Kidneys. The life expectancy of someone who donates a kidney is the same as the general population. There is no increased risk of kidney disease if a well-screened person donates a kidney to someone who is in need of a transplant.

Trigonometry

Trigonometry (from Greek trigōnon “triangle” + metron “measure”) is a branch of mathematics that studies triangles and the relationships between their sides and the angles between these sides.

Trigonometry defines the trigonometric functions, which describe those relationships and have applicability to cyclical phenomena, such as waves.

The field evolved during the third century BC as a branch of geometry used extensively for astronomical studies. It is also the foundation of the practical art of surveying.   Trigonometry basics are often taught in school either as a separate course or as part of a precalculus course.

The trigonometric functions are pervasive in parts of pure mathematics and applied mathematics such as Fourier analysis and the wave equation, which are in turn essential to many branches of science and technology.

Spherical trigonometry studies triangles on spheres, surfaces of constant positive curvature, in elliptic geometry. It is fundamental to astronomy and navigation. Trigonometry on surfaces of negative curvature is part of Hyperbolic geometry.

History

Sumerian astronomers introduced angle measure, using a division of circles into 360 degrees. They and their successors the Babylonians studied the ratios of the sides of similar triangles and discovered some properties of these ratios, but did not turn that into a systematic method for finding sides and angles of triangles.

The ancient Nubians used a similar methodology. The ancient Greeks transformed trigonometry into an ordered science.   Classical Greek mathematicians (such as Euclid and Archimedes) studied the properties of chords and inscribed angles in circles, and proved theorems that are equivalent to modern trigonometric formulae, although they presented them geometrically rather than algebraically. Claudius Ptolemy expanded upon Hipparchus’ Chords in a Circle in his Almagest.

The modern sine function was first defined in the Surya Siddhanta, and its properties were further documented by the 5th century Indian mathematician and astronomer Aryabhata.

These Greek and Indian works were translated and expanded by medieval Islamic mathematicians. By the 10th century, Islamic mathematicians were using all six trigonometric functions, had tabulated their values, and were applying them to problems in spherical geometry.

At about the same time, Chinese mathematicians developed trigonometry independently, although it was not a major field of study for them. Knowledge of trigonometric functions and methods reached Europe via Latin translations of the works of Persian and Arabic astronomers such as Al Battani and Nasir al-Din al-Tusi.

One of the earliest works on trigonometry by a European mathematician is De Triangulis by the 15th century German mathematician Regiomontanus. Trigonometry was still so little known in 16th century Europe that Nicolaus Copernicus devoted two chapters of De revolutionibus orbium coelestium to explaining its basic concepts.

SALT

1. Right up to the 20th century, pound bars of salt (called amoleh) were the basic currency in Abyssinia (now called Ethiopia).
2. The amazing Salar de Uyuni (the world’s largest salt flat at 4,000 square miles) in Bolivia becomes mirrorlike when a thin layer of water lies on top. This reflectivity makes it a very useful tool in calibration scientific equipment from outer space. This amazing salt flat also contains half of the world’s supply of lithium. The salt flat is pictured above.
3. Salt is so essential to the body that if you drink too much water it can flush it out of your system and cause fatal Hyponatremia. This is what killed Jennifer Strange who entered a “Hold your wee for a wii” competition.
4. Consumption of too much salt can be deadly – you need to take about 1 gram of salt per kilogram of weight to die and this was used as a method of ritual suicide in China – especially amongst the nobility as salt was so expensive.
5. Good quality sea salt contains many essential minerals for the body. The best type of sea salt should be slightly wet from the sea it was taken from.

6. In the Middle Ages, salt as so expensive it was sometimes referred to as “white gold”. The medieval pavement of one of the transportation routes for Salt still exists in Germany where it links the inland city of Lüneburg to the German Baltic coast.
7. Black Salt is made in India by mixing salt water with harad seeds. The mixture is left to evaporate leaving behind black lumps of salt. When the salt is ground, the resulting powder is pink (as can be seen in the image above).
8. In Guerande, France, salt is still gathered in the same way as it was by the ancient celts, using baskets through which the sea water is strained. This makes the salt very expensive and highly sought after, especially the finest quality version called Fleur de Sel (flower of salt). This salt is sprinkled on food prior to serving – it is never used in cooking.
9. There is a very common misconception that Roman soldiers were paid in salt (hence the word Salary), but in fact they were paid in normal money. The connection with salt is possibly through the fact that the soldiers protected the salt roads leading to Rome (Via Salarium). Roman Soldiers were private employees – rather than state employees.
10. Before Biblical Judaism ceased to exist, salt was mixed with animal sacrifices. This originated from Moses in Leviticus 2:13 which states: “Whatsoever sacrifice thou offerest, thou shalt season it with salt, neither shalt thou take away the salt of the covenant of thy God from thy sacrifice. In all thy oblations thou shalt offer salt.” The salt was a symbol of wisdom and discretion.
11. After aviation fuel is purified, salt is mixed with it to remove all traces of water before it can be used.
12. Sodium Chloride (salt – pictured above) is formed when the unstable metal sodium reacts with chlorine gas. It is the only family of rocks regularly eaten by humans.
13. In the early 1800s salt was 4 times as expensive as beef on the frontier – it was essential in keeping people and livestock alive.
14. Only 6% of the salt used in the U.S. is used in food; another 17% is used for de-icing streets and highways in the winter months.
15. In the late 17th century, salt was the leading cargo carried from the Caribbean to North America (most tonnage). Salt Cod was the leading cargo carried from North America to the Caribbean. It was used to feed slaves on sugar plantations.

Hepatitis B

Hepatitis B is an infectious inflammatory illness of the liver caused by the hepatitis B virus (HBV) that affects hominoidea, including humans.

Originally known as “serum hepatitis”, the disease has caused epidemics in parts of Asia and Africa, and it is endemic inChina.

About a third of the world population has been infected at one point in their lives,[3] including 350 million who are chronic carriers.

The virus is transmitted by exposure to infectious blood or body fluids such as semen and vaginal fluids, while viral DNA has been detected in the saliva, tears, and urine of chronic carriers.

Perinatal infection is a major route of infection in endemic (mainly developing) countries. Other risk factors for developing HBV infection include working in a healthcare setting, transfusions, and dialysis, acupuncture, tattooing, extended overseas travel and residence in an institution.

However, Hepatitis B viruses cannot be spread by holding hands, sharing eating utensils or drinking glasses, kissing, hugging, coughing, sneezing, or breastfeeding.

The acute illness causes liver inflammation, vomiting, jaundice and, rarely, death. Chronic hepatitis B may eventually cause cirrhosis and liver cancer—a disease with poor response to all but a few current therapies. The infection is preventable by vaccination.

Hepatitis B virus is an hepadnavirus—hepa from hepatotropic (attracted to the liver) and dna because it is a DNA virus—and it has a circular genome of partially double-stranded DNA.

The viruses replicate through an RNA intermediate form by reverse transcription, which practice relates them to retroviruses.

Although replication takes place in the liver, the virus spreads to the blood where viral proteins and antibodies against them are found in infected people.