Ageing is inevitable. But some people would go to great lengths to prolong the stage of youth. Instead of ageing gracefully, they view wrinkles as hideous and will seek treatments to lessen the formation of wrinkles. That’s why Botox injections are crowding up advertising space. Promises like ‘Botox remove unsightly wrinkles and banish ugly neck bands’ remain nudged in the consumer’s mind. So, more people are making a beeline for this. Although it’s available, proper administration of Botox can be costly. Yet, how much do we actually know about Botox?
Botox is a trade name for botulinum toxin A. there’re many types of food poisoning of which botulism is one of them. It occurs when someone eats something containing a neurotoxin produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. There’re symptoms of botulism but the most serious one is paralysis, which in some cases can be deadly.
When botulinum toxins attach themselves to nerve endings, the neurotransmitter responsible for triggering muscle contractions, can’t be released. For example, when botulinum toxins attack the chest muscles-this could create breathing problems. The respiratory muscles are paralyzed so it becomes impossible to breathe.
Recipients of Botox injections have complained of migraines, unnatural tightness and involuntary facial muscle twitches. So, why do people still want to undergo this risky technique? Why would anyone want to have a botulinum toxin injected into his or her body? If an area of the body can’t move, it can’t wrinkle. That seems to be the primary reason.
(Adapted from How Stuff Works at http://howstuffworks.com/botox1.htm)
Labels: botox, brainy, project
In 1508, Leonardo Da Vinci described the contact lens as a convenient means of correcting vision. Today, they’ve become so widely accepted that it’s not unusual for people to wear colored contact lenses purely for cosmetic reasons.
Contact lenses are medical products, so it’s necessary to obtain them from a qualified optician who’s authorized to prescribe contact lenses. With a thorough eye check-up and proper aftercare, contact lenses are quite safe. Problems usually occur when the eye examination is hastily or badly performed, the wrong type of lens is chosen and the lenses are poorly maintained or cleaned.
There’re two main types of contact lenses: soft lenses and rigid (hard) lenses. Both have their advantages-soft lenses are more comfortable, but hard lenses keep shape better and may therefore provide sharper vision.
A contact lens is really a foreign object in the eye, so it must be handled and maintained properly to prevent complications. Contact lenses must be cleaned and disinfected after each wearing. Cleaning products and schedules very according to the type of lens prescribed. Follow instructions on the package carefully. Clean with enzyme tablets to help remove protein deposits weekly. Don’t mix or substitute solutions from different cleaning systems. This could lead to discolored lenses, eye discomfort or injury.
Remember to wash and rinse your hands thoroughly with soap and water before handling your lenses. Clean, rinse and air-dry your lens case. Dirty contact lens cases can be a source of bacterial growth. Replace your lens cases regularly. Don’t wear lenses beyond the recommended number of hours. Don’t wear your lenses while sleeping. Discard soft lenses after 12 to 18 months of use. Hard lenses need to be replaced after 5 years.
Don’t use saliva to wet your lenses and don’t use home-prepared saline, distilled water or tap water for cleaning your lenses. These solutions may not be sterile. Keep your contact lenses moist. Hard lenses may warp if allowed to dry and soft lenses may harden, shrivel and break. Don’t allow your lenses to come into contact with cosmetic lotions, creams or sprays. It’s best to insert your lenses before putting on makeup and to remove your lenses before cleaning face. Water-based cosmetics are less likely to damage your lenses than oil-based products. Use appropriate protection for the eyes when necessary. For example, during water sports like swimming, surfing, windsurfing and sailing, goggles should be worn to protect both the user’s eyes and lenses.
Daily disposable lenses may useful for those who have trouble keeping their lenses clean. Disposable lenses are worn for a single day then thrown away and replaced with a new pair. During camping or long trips, use extended-wear lenses to minimize handling. Extended-wear soft lenses can be worn up to 6 days continuously and the discarded. However, this type of lens is not recommended for daily long-term use. See your contact lenses practitioner or family doctor if you experience pain, discomfort, redness or itching of the eye, or if you find your sight is blurred.
Labels: brainy, contact lens, project
The discovery that sounds could travel by radio waves set several scientists thinking. If sound could be transmitted in this way, what about pictures?
The main problem faced was scanning, which was how to convert picture into a continuous sequence of information. When a person looks at a picture on a television screen, he is actually seeing millions of tiny dots of light. These dots are arranged in lines. On a modern television, there’re 625 lines on the picture. The more lines the picture has, the clearer and precise the picture is. This is because the image is broken up into very tiny parts.
Some of the first pioneers of television looked at electronic methods. In 1923, a procedure for converting an image into electrical signals was developed by Vladimir Zworykin, a Russian-born American.
Another pioneer was John Logie Baird, a Scottish engineer-turned-inventor who developed television in a different way. He had struggled unsuccessfully for 9 years until one day he came up with an idea for a mechanical scanning system; a system which was based on an invention by Paul Nipkow, a German student. Nipkow had the idea of cutting up images into lines and he produced an ‘electric telescope’ which comprised a disc pierced with a spiral of holes at the edge. The disc would divide the object into a series of lines when it was spun in front of an object. Baird applied for a patent to use Nipkow’s idea to make television. He managed to produce a flickering, blurred picture in 1925.
Braid greatly excited by his success, borrowed money to improve his invention. He rented a workshop in London to continue his work. He televised a ventriloquist’s dummy to the public at his workshop. The image was very dim and blurred as it was made up only with 8 lines. However, it was a success despite the poor quality. The public began to believe in the possibilities of this new communication system.
Baird set up his own company and continued to work to improve the quality of the images. The BBC was founded in 1922 to broadcast radio programs. Baird persuaded them to transmit television service. Meanwhile, other companies were working on electronic methods. In 1933, Zworykin patented the ‘iconoscope’, a camera tube that converted an image into electrical pulses, which was used by the Radio Corporation of America in 1936.
The electronic method was more sophisticated and could produce better quality pictures than Baird’s mechanical device. There were several drawbacks to the latter’s system. The camera was immobilized so anyone televised had to stay in one position. Besides, those televised were asked to wear heavy make-up so that their features could be seen. This was due to the poor quality of the picture. They were also almost blinded by the flickering light from the machine. Finally, the system’s frequent breakdowns proved to be the last straw.
For a while, the BBC used both mechanical scanned system and electronic system for their programs, but they finally dropped the former favor of the latter in 1937. Baird was bitterly upset over the decision. However, Baird’s first flickering pictures earned his credit as the inventor of the television, despite other pioneers who had been working on producing more advanced and technological equipment than Baird.
Labels: brainy, lines, project
Most of us are now aware of the damage which our modern way of life is doing to the environment. This includes the harm which we’re inflicting on many animals. Indeed, we’re in danger of wiping out some species, if we’ve not already done so.
For millions of years, extinction among animals was a natural process. In fact, it was part of the process of evolution. In recent years, however, the extinction of some species has been the result of human activities. Had it not been for these, many more animals would have survived.
Some species have either been made extinct, or become endangered, because of hunting. Now, even the very earliest of humans were hunters, since they ate the flesh of animals and clothed themselves in their skins, and doubtless their hunting gradually contributed to the guns, with their accurate aim, which put certain animals at great risk, and from the 19th century on several species were on the brink of extinction.
By this time, animals were being for commercial purposes, apart from the provision of food and clothing. For example, elephants were being hunted for their ivory. Nowadays, attempts are being made to regulate such wholesale commercial hunting, but it’s difficult to control in some areas. Thus, animals continue to die to make profits for humans. Of course, not only commerce is to blame. Hunting as a sport has also played a part in the extinction of certain species.
A more modern threat too many animals is the destruction of their environment and the resultant changes in the ecology of whole areas. Our use of pesticides and other chemicals has polluted both soil and water, and this pollution has proved to be toxic to many of the plants which are part of the habitat of many animals. Furthermore, we regularly lay waste to land previously inhabited by animals, in order to make way for expanding populations or, as in the case of deforestation, to provide goods for wealthy nations.
Modern living has had a deleterious effect on the ecosystem. We must try to reverse this to save our wildlife.
Labels: brainy, endangered, project, species
Have university standards declined because of massive growth? We’ve now scores of universities and colleges, both public and private. To put it simply, if one throws a stone, chances are he’ll hit an institute of higher learning. Now we’ve whole universities dedicated to multimedia, information technology or even infrastructure. In the past, doctoral graduates were few and far between but now many graduates of differing diplomas and degrees are being churned out.
Another issue of concern is the power of the thinking individual. Are universities, centre of not only learning but thinking as well? Successful people often attribute success to material gains. Students take on a pragmatic role when they sign up for courses that will ensure them lucrative jobs. The general malaise is that we’re faced with students who no longer think for themselves. It’s not that they can’t think but because they refuse to do so.
This could be due to our Asian culture where students are happily digesting information and regurgitating it for examination purposes. Certainly, with the advent of the power point, the dishing out of lecture notes becomes more prevalent and students become expert scribes. The lecturer who is interacts with students and encourages them to think for they are seen as the ineffective lecturer. Students are so used to hearing what is common and acceptable that’s not surprising that they shy away from thought provoking seminars.
An overemphasis on the importance of logic spells the gradual death of creativity. A borderless world should reflect a place where the mind is not imprisoned. What then does the layman think of the intellectual? Is he the chemist in his ivory tower who occasionally spews out strange academic concoctions? Or is he just hibernating in his intellectual cocoon and waiting for metamorphosis to take place?
Many intellectuals can write but they’re not writing. How can these intellectuals write in such a way that what is written is easily understood by the public? There’s a need to translate our storehouse of knowledge into common terms devoid of the jargon of specialization. ‘The difference between a musician who plays in a pub and Elvis Presley is that the latter had left a mark in our lives.’ Higher institutions of learning need to be both inventive and scholastic in dealing with challenges of today.
Labels: brainy, present, project, quality, university
A residential college gives rise to the idea of excellence, discipline and security. Of late, there’ve been frequent incidents of bullying which occurred on college grounds. When these perpetrators were caught, they were usually given a warning by the principal.
Many parents felt that the punishment was too light. Besides that, it came as a shock that these bullies came from educated and well-established homes, contrary to the popular belief that bullies originated from dysfunctional families. Another sore point was that it was an ‘in-house’ matter and so the police were not called. All these seemed to propagate the idea that if bullying had taken place, minor punishment would be meted out and for the sake of the good name of the college, everything was kept under wraps.
Why do bullies take the law into their own hands? Some feel that the act of aggression often begins because students tend to clique according to the state that they come from. They’re not mix freely with students from other states.
Next, the catalyst is usually an attitude problem. In one incident, a student boasted of his family’s wealth. Someone got offended and it was a one-to-one confrontation. When the situation got worse more ‘allies’ were called in. by then, interrogation would take place whereby the victim would be subjected to intense questioning and verbal abuse.
It’s inevitable that the next course of action would be physical abuse. The time chosen would be the unearthly hour of 2 or 3 a.m. when all the wardens and guardians are asleep. The victim would receive a knock on his door. If he chooses to open it, he’d be asked to go someplace to meet someone. The plea of leniency would fall on deaf ears and the horror will begin.
Labels: brainy, bullies, project, reign
Is there one food that can guarantee food grades? Studies show that youngsters, who eat a variety of food pay attention in school, are less fidgety and learn better. If they eat well on test days, they make fewer mistakes. According to a 2003 BBC news report, demand for fish, vegetables and ‘brain foods’ rose sharply during the exam period.
A major supermarket in the United Kingdom found that sales of fish like cod, plaice and mackerel were up during the exam period in towns with institutions of higher learning. Fish contains dimethlyamino-ethanol, which is thought to improve the memory. Other types of foods selling strongly included avocados, bananas and melons. Not surprising, the increase in the sale of fish is largest in university towns like Cambridge, Oxford, Newcastle, Edinburgh and Durham.
The question is; do we need special formulas or exclusive food to improve brain power? A balanced diet and sufficient sleep is crucial for memory power. Students should be discouraged from last minute mugging. Some may resort to numerous cups of coffee, but again this doesn’t work for everyone. Others take supplements which act as an umbrella for perceived nutrient deficiency. This shouldn’t be so, unless you know for sure that you’re deficient in certain nutrients.
We live in a fast paced and increasingly complex world that requires mental sharpness and the ability to stay focused. Stress, anxiety, fatigue, high blood sugar, high blood pressure, the aging process and less than ideal nutrition all play a part with the deterioration of mental functioning.
Consuming fresh nutritious food is a better and safer option. Foods that are high in fat and sugar content should be avoided. Such foods give only empty calories. A well-balanced diet provides the building blocks for brain health and growth. Foods that are especially good for the brain are fruits and vegetables which provide antioxidants to help maintain balance, coordination and memory function. Proteins maintain nerve cell structure and calcium is not just important for bone structure, but is also needed for nerve impulse conduction and muscle contraction. Besides that, soy products provide choline, a nutrient that builds neurotransmitters that pass electrical impulses between brain cells. Examples of good sources of choline are egg yolks, peanuts and liver. As water makes up 85% of the brain weight, a lack of water leads to dehydration, making it hard to concentrate among other bad effects.
Basically, the ratio of macronutrients and micronutrients needs to be adequate. If there’re insufficient nutrients, this may impair a person’s cognitive performance. It’s most importance not to skip meals. This idea of skipping a meal and making up for it later doesn’t work.
(Adapted from The New Sunday Times, 25 September 2005)
Labels: brain, brainy, food, project