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'Scandal' Recap: Jake Makes A Shocking Discovery
'Scandal' is just now getting into high gear, and the Oct. 9 episode set the stakes for crazy showdowns in Washington.
Happy Thursday! Scandal is back and the Oct. 9 episode featured another case of the week, Mellie (Bellamy Young) sort of returning to her old self, an interesting dinner party, Cyrus' (Jeff Perry) descent down the rabbit hole and a serious one-on-one between Jake (Scott Foley) and Rowan (Joe Morton).
'Scandal' Recap: Guess Who's Coming To Dinner?
Cyrus still had googly eyes for Michael. Seriously, Cyrus. This guys just screams bad news.
Mellie had yet to return to her old, fierce self, but we're getting there. For some reason, this new killer cliff bride sparked something in Mellie.
As Attorney General, Rosen had his first real task. Fitz was determined to get a gun control law passed, and wanted Rosen to swing the vote of one of the Supreme Court justices.
Olivia finally went to see Rowan after months apart. She said she just "stopped by," but whatever. She was adjusting to her return to Washington. I mean, when you've spent months in paradise it is kind of hard to get back in the groove.
Rowan extended a gracious hand and offered a dinner with Jake and Olivia. "I'll learn to like Jake because you like Jake," Rowan said. I bet Rowan would be happy with any guy that wasn't Fitz.
When Olivia asked Jake to dinner, he was not interested. "Call me later if you want me to do that thing to you," he told Olivia. Man, Jake has some serious balls this season.
Jake was on a mission, which involved Charlie. Hmmmmm.
Olivia didn't have time to sit around and mull over this dinner. She had a new case, and it hit close to home. One of Olivia and Abby's close friend's daughter was missing.
Meanwhile, we started to see the return of old Mellie as she started becoming more and more obsessed with this killer cliff bride. Fitz was happy, but Abby was a little worried. Abby went to Fitz about her concern, but Fitz didn't want to hear it from "Gabby." He just wanted her to give Mellie whatever she wanted.
'Scandal' Recap: Murder & Vermont
Despite his valiant effort, David's speech to the Supreme Court didn't go over that well. Poor David. Fitz wasn't down with this, to say the least. He wanted his gun control law passed, by whatever means necessary. David did succeed, but Judge Sparks ended up killing himself. Are you wearing the white hat now, David?
"If I don't get to become a soccer dad in Vermont, then I need this to mean something," Fitz screamed at David.
(Oh, a Vermont reference! Help me, I'm feeling the feels.)
As Catherine and Olivia discussed the whereabouts of Caitlin, Catherine asked Olivia, "Are you dating?"
"No, I'm not," Olivia replied. (Hold up. Does Jake know this?!)
Jake summoned Quinn to help with his Charlie plan. Quinn didn't really have an option. After all, Jake was the one who took her in when she had no one else. Jake knew Quinn was the only person who could crack Charlie and possibly what he knew about Rowan and Jerry's death.
Quinn found Caitlin, and Catherine rushed to the hotel where she was staying.
But Huck discovered a shocking clue. The real reason Caitlin bolted was because her mother was sleeping with her boyfriend! Olivia realized that she let Catherine go! Caitlin was dead, and Olivia believed that Catherine killed her!
While Quinn and Charlie were locked away, things got a little heated. They had a steamy makeout session on the floor! Man, Quinn is hooking up with everybody!
'Scandal' Recap: Not-So Idle Threats
Olivia headed over to Jake's house, but Jake wasn't wanting to be lovey dovey. Olivia didn't understand why Jake was picking a fight, but she was just being stupid. "You are in love with another man," Jake said. Yep. Simple enough.
No one had realized Quinn was gone for over 24 hours and that didn't sit well with her. Quinn said she was the only one who cared about the Gladiators over the past few months and this lack of caring was how Harrison died. Amen, sista.
Later, Huck had sweet words for Quinn. "Next time you go MIA, I'll look for you," he told her. Aw, Huckleberry Quinn!
Mellie finally had her big meeting! Yay for Mellie! Fitz didn't exactly know what was going on, but he went with it. Before Mellie could really get a word in, one of the men at the table told her that the killer bride had been cleared. The light went out in Mellie's eyes. Fortunately, Abby was there to save her from completely losing it.
Later, Fitz took the time to thank "Gabby" for her help. Abby told him that he owed her an apology for not learning her name. The two shared a drink. Abby's getting along quite well in the White House!
Fitz used this opportunity to ask about Olivia.
"How is she? How is she doing?" Fitz asked.
Abby said she was doing well. "You know, Olivia," she said.
Jake agreed to dinner with Rowan, but had some work to do first. He realized that Tom was the one to kill Jerry, as part of Rowan's plan. Jake headed to dinner with a mission.
The dinner was awkward, to say the least. "It's comforting to know she's in good hands," Rowan told Jake. When Olivia got up to take a call from Huck, that's when Jake went in for the kill.
"Why did you do it?"Jake asked. "Kill Harrison. Did they figure out you murdered the President's kid?"
Jake had one simple request for Rowan: Leave.
Rowan wasn't going to give up easily. He nearly stabbed Jake, but Jake didn't flinch. Jake told him to head for the island and never look back. Rowan had strong words for Jake as well.
"I will be the one standing over you when you die," he spat. (Watch yourself, Jake.)
Cyrus finally caved and spent the night with Michael. Ugh, Cyrus you are so stupid. I'm not sure what has gotten into him. As soon as Michael left, he called Liz to tell her the big new. What exactly does Liz have planned for Cyrus?
HollywoodLifers, what did you think of tonight's Scandal? Can you believe Jake threatened Rowan? Will this have deadly repercussions? When did Cyrus become an idiot? Let us know!
— Avery Thompson
Follow @avery__thompson


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Dear Frank,
I went to the PostSecret exhibit recently and left a secret on a pink index card that said:
I skipped school today.
My eating disorder is back.
I've started cutting again.
On my way home I went to my family's health care provider to ask for help, but instead of helping me they got frustrated with my inability to communicate what was wrong and told me they couldn't do anything.
I left numb with dejection and hopelessness. I went home and cut myself. I still don't know why. But I cleaned myself up and just sat in my room staring outside for a long long time before picking up my PostSecret books and reading through all of them completely. I felt a little less alone.
I have no idea if this is the right email address to send this to or if you will even read it. But I am writing this to say Thank you for showing me that I am not alone in my solitude. Thank you for taking time. Thank you for giving the gift of PostSecret.
I cut in high school. It was my way of dealing with the chaos I couldn't control. I felt lost, unseen, and not real as what was going on around me was too painful and so it became numb to my mind. I don't remember feeling much during that time - but I do remember I cut so I would bleed so I could remember I was capable of feeling. It is a weird habit. But, in some ways, it is the same as sex, drugs, or alcohol - it's the momentary high (or low), a release from whatever in your life is too unmanageable for you.
I became a Christian when I was 15. For me, the greatest day of freedom was when I realized that not only did God want me broken, He loved me that way. I did have a "burden lifted off my shoulders" moment because I came to God in the midst of one of the hardest periods of my life.
In the midst... meaning I still cut. I remember realizing I needed help but was totally unsure who to go to. So I told someone at the ranch I trusted. I nervously flipped through my magazine and told them I cut, and why I did it - and that I wanted help stopping. They were silent, despondent, detached and left without a word. They never brought it up again, and that rejection only pushed the pain further in.
I told people closer to me, and the look of disgust made me silent for years. I thought that after all we had been through nothing was beyond the love and grace of those closest to me. Standing there, in that moment, I had never felt more shameful and disgraced.
Cutting is a hard habit to understand. It can become an addiction. It is a loss of control, and yet, it is the regaining of it too. I couldn't stop cutting, it was the only thing I had a grasp on at the time, but I could control how, where, for how long, how deep. And with the blood and tears and regret and desire for another avenue to express my pain/anger/etc., there was a deep sense that I was "ok" because I was "in control." I never wanted to die. For me, cutting was not a suicidal thing. It was my desire to live beyond that momentary pain that made me hold onto the one thing that told me I was in control of something (anything).
One day I realized there were healthier ways of dealing with pain. By that time things had simmered down and I could face the desire to want to change. So I did. I told the only person who had been compassionate (and non-judgmental) to me through the whole thing and have never cut since. Sometimes it's hard, the pain or chaos or sadness is too much and it's tempting to reach for a razor or a knife and cut again. But I don't. Instead I pray, or read my Bible, or move or just cry out, hoping tomorrow will be better. Sometimes it is, sometimes it's not. But that's not the point.
The point is....
I don't know what the point is. People's hearts are breaking, people feel lonely. We live in this modern age, technological, instant communication society - and yet know each other less. We are called to carry each other's burdens - but how do you do that in the hustle, bustle task orientated, be beautiful and surface and uplift being "pretty" over being real world we live in?
I don't know. But I think a lot of people are self-medicating, cutting, in their own way. And maybe instead of pouring another one, taking another one, sleeping with another one, working another one, escaping through another one - we need to face what we're scared of, what we're running from - even if it is our own emptiness - admit that we are empty, scared, alone, bored - and demand more from those around us, and, more importantly, ourselves.

subset: commoncrawl


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After announcing its latest flagship smartphones, Huawei is making good on its promises and announcing its latest smartwatch.
The Huawei Watch 2 and Huawei Watch 2 Classic are now officially official. They two variants share plenty of commonalities: a Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 2100 processor, 4GB of built-in storage, batteries measuring in at 420mAh, IP68-rated water and dust-resistance, and 768MB of RAM. Finally, both watches also support GPS, NFC, and a heart rate sensor.
As expected, the Watch 2 will offer built-in 4G LTE connectivity. Both watches will be running Android Wear 2.0 on 1.2-inch round displays.
Huawei confirmed that both the Watch 2 and Watch 2 Classic will launch in March in China, Portugal, Spain, France, Germany, and Italy in March of this year, starting at €329 ($347 USD). The watches will launch in Australia, Russia, the United States, and the United Kingdom in April of this year.
One last thing: Huawei also announced a Porsche Design variant of the Huawei Watch 2, but only revealed an image of the upcoming wearable. Pricing and a release date weren't announced.
Is this your next smartwatch?


text: ADMODIFY will give you the ability to do this. Mark Fugatt Dedicated Supportability Engineer (Exchange) Microsoft Limited Desk: +44 (0)118 909 5630 Mobile: +44 (0)7966 858108 MSN IM: markfu@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Blog: http://blogs.technet.com/mfugatt Dedicated to proactively supporting Microsoft's enterprise Customers If you have any feedback about my work, please let either myself or my manager Andy Gitsham know at andygi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx or telephone +44 118 909 3233 -----Original Message----- From: Matt Robbins [mailto:mrobbins@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] Sent: 16 February 2006 10:11 To: [ExchangeList] Subject: [exchangelist] Setting Number of Recipient Limits for Large Groups of Users http://www.MSExchange.org/ Hi Folks, I hope you can help me, I am trying to restrict the number of recipients that our student body can send messages to without affecting every user on the system. I am aware that I can set the recipient limit both globally and individually, what I need is to be able to do this to large groups without having to go to each user account and set the limit individually. Selecting multiple accounts in AD users and computers on my Exchange server and choosing properties doesn't give me access to any exchange tabs. Does anyone have any ideas or have I got a long job ahead? Many thanks for your time. -- Matt Robbins - Network Manager Brooke Weston City Technology College mrobbins@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ------------------------------------------------------ List Archives: http://www.webelists.com/cgi/lyris.pl?enter=exchangelist Exchange Newsletters: http://www.msexchange.org/pages/newsletter.asp ------------------------------------------------------ Visit TechGenix.com for more information about our other sites: http://www.techgenix.com ------------------------------------------------------ You are currently subscribed to this MSExchange.org Discussion List as: markfu@xxxxxxxxxxxxx To unsubscribe visit http://www.webelists.com/cgi/lyris.pl?enter=exchangelist Report abuse to info@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx e.org


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Filed Under News, Target Healthy Eating (recipes) | Leave a Comment
Asparagus Ribbon Salad with Parmesan, Pine Nuts & Lemon
Tender asparagus is still in Season. Here's another easy recipe using locally grown organic asparagus. ©Joyce Hays, Target Health Inc.
2/3 cup pine nuts, toasted, plus extra (toasted) for garnish
1 pound fresh, (organic) locally grown fat asparagus, rinsed
1 lemon, halved
1.5 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Zest of 1/2 lemon
Lemon circles, for garnish
2.5 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 fresh garlic clove, juiced
1 Tablespoon fresh chives, minced
Pinch turmeric (that comes with black pepper, already mixed in)
Pinch black mustard seeds, toasted (optional)
Pinch chili flakes
Pinch, black pepper
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan or more
Asparagus in season, is so tender now. ©Joyce Hays, Target Health Inc.
Toast the pine nuts and the black mustard seeds together. Keep your eye on them and stir constantly so they don't burn. You'll have to do them over if they burn. Set aside.
Toast the pine nuts yourself; it really adds to the overall flavor. ©Joyce Hays, Target Health Inc.
Chop the chives, slice the lemons and set aside. ©Joyce Hays, Target Health Inc.
Rinse the asparagus, then make the asparagus ribbons
To shave the asparagus lay a stalk flat on a cutting board, holding it at the base. Usually, with asparagus recipes, you snap off the tough bottom, that's too tough to eat. In this recipe, don't snap it off, so you have something to hold onto when you make the asparagus ribbons.
Gripping the base, at about where the pale base turns green, use a vegetable peeler to shave the stalk in long, even strips all the way through the tip. Be sure to peel the asparagus ribbon, all the way to the end of the tip. Some of your ribbons will have part or all of the tip and others won't. That's okay. The end result will be a lovely variety of ribbons.
The best peeler to use, is the Y-shape one. Peel again until you're about half way through the stalk, then turn over and peel the other side. When you reach the point that the peeler will no longer shave the spear, rest the spear on top of a wooden spoon (or wooden spatula) with a flat handle, to elevate the spear and take the last two or three strips. Peel all of the asparagus spears, like this.
Peeling the asparagus ribbons. ©Joyce Hays, Target Health Inc.
So-o easy to make asparagus ribbons and your salad will look so lovely. ©Joyce Hays, Target Health Inc.
Grate the parmesan.
It always tastes better, when you grate your own parmesan. Get a quality chunk of it at a reliable store. ©Joyce Hays, Target Health Inc.
Combine asparagus shavings, toasted pine nuts and toasted black mustard seeds, in a large salad (serving) bowl, and toss gently. Save some of the nuts for garnish.
In a small bowl, place the minced chives and the garlic juice in the bottom of the bowl and cover with olive oil. Add lemon juice, zest, chives, turmeric and pinch chili flakes, and whisk until smooth.
In a small bowl, make the vinaigrette. ©Joyce Hays, Target Health Inc.
If you toss this salad ahead of time, the ribbons wilt a little. They lose some of their perkiness. Therefore, just minutes before your meal begins, pour the vinaigrette dressing over the asparagus mixture and toss gently with salad servers, to lightly coat all of the asparagus ribbons.
Season according to your taste, if needed.
Finally, sprinkle the salad with the freshly grated parmesan and toss.
Garnish with a few toasted pine nuts. Place the lemon circles around the bowl for decoration.
Serve immediately.
One night we just had chilled white wine with crusty Italian bread dipped in extra virgin olive oil and this asparagus ribbon salad; fresh fruit for dessert. ©Joyce Hays, Target Health Inc.
This is the third time this month, that I've made asparagus ribbon salad. Tonight, we started with icy white wine, and a Nova Scotia Salmon appetizer; followed by this salad and kale/mushroom patties with avocado pureed topping and strawberry jello cake. ©Joyce Hays, Target Health Inc.
Nothing says, Spring, like the sweet smell of hyacinths. ©Joyce Hays, Target Health Inc.
We saw Frank Langella give the most brilliant performance we've seen all year in a play called, The Father, by Florian Zeller. It's on Broadway at the Samuel J. Friedman Theater, for a limited run that ends sometime this coming June.
The unique crafting of this play, takes the audience, back and forth in time, plus in and out of the aging psyche, superbly played by Frank Langella. The starring role is extremely difficult because of the many mental twists and turns, but the genius of Frank Langella captures all the delicate nuances of the leading character. I predict that this play will win more than one Tony Award for 2016. Buy your tickets first thing on Monday, so you don't miss a terrific play and a once in a lifetime performance. We are very proud to be patrons of this event. The world needs more great theater like, The Father.
From Our Table to Yours !
Bon Appetit!
International team of climate researchers reconstruct global cooling in the reign of emperor Justinian
April 19, 2016
Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel (GEOMAR)
Contemporary chronicles, archaeological studies and physical evidence all point to severe climatic changes and ensuing social crises in the middle of the 6th century. New data from ice cores suggest that these events were caused by two major volcanic eruptions. An international team of scientists has reconstructed the effects using state-of-the-art climate models. As they present now the volcanic double event was likely the strongest volcanic driver of Northern Hemisphere climate over the past one and a half millennia.
Contemporary chroniclers wrote about a "mystery cloud" which dimmed the light of the sun above the Mediterranean in the years 536 and 537 CE. Tree rings testify poor growing conditions over the whole Northern Hemisphere — the years from 536 CE onward seem to have been overshadowed by an unusual natural phenomenon. Social crises including the first European plague pandemic beginning in 541, are associated with this phenomenon. Only recently have researchers found conclusive proof of a volcanic origin of the 536 solar dimming, based on traces of volcanic sulfur from two major eruptions newly dated to 536 CE and 540 CE in ice cores from Greenland and Antarctica.
An international team of climate scientists led by Dr. Matthew Toohey at the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel and Prof. Dr. Kirstin Krüger of the University of Oslo (UiO), with financial support from the Centre for Earth Evolution and Dynamics (CEED) at the UiO, has investigated the time period using the new ice core data, historical evidence and climate models. As they write in the international journal Climatic Change, the impact of the volcanic double event of 536/540 on Northern Hemisphere climate was stronger than any other documented or reconstructed event of the past 1200 years. "One of the eruptions would have led to a significant cooling of Earth's surface. Two of them, so close in time, caused what is probably the coldest decade of the past 2000 years," says Dr. Matthew Toohey from GEOMAR, lead author of the study today at a press conference at the annual EGU Meeting in Vienna where he presented the results.
To simulate the impact of the 536 and 540 eruptions, the scientists used the available data from ice cores and the descriptions of the solar dimming from contemporary scholars. With this data they estimated the magnitude of the eruptions and their approximate locations on Earth, and then simulated the spread and impacts of the aerosol clouds resulting from the volcanic injection of sulfur into the stratosphere. This revealed that following the eruptions, the solar radiation at Earth's surface was strongly reduced over the Northern Hemisphere for several years, and caused decreases in the hemispheric average temperature of up to 2 degrees Celsius.
The relationship between the "mystery cloud" of 536 and the transition from Antiquity to the Middle Ages is an issue of great popular interest. Volcanic eruptions in the more recent past have impacted human societies. For example, in 1815 the Indonesian volcano Tambora hurled so much ash and sulfur into the atmosphere that the year 1816 became known as "the year without summer" in Europe and North America, where unusually low temperatures led to crop failures and famines. For eruptions of the more distance past, connections between eruptions and societal impacts become less clear.
Toohey and his colleagues used their climate model simulations to directly estimate the impact of the eruptions on agriculture in Europe, and identified Northern Europe and in particular Scandinavia as the most likely locations to have suffered under the cold conditions after the eruptions. This result supports the theory of a connection between the eruptions and archaeological evidence of a large-scale societal crisis in Scandinavia in the 6th century. "Each one of the eruptions of 536/540 would have strongly impacted societies, and it happened twice within four years," says co-author Prof. Dr. Kirstin Krüger from the University of Oslo.
Which volcanoes exactly were responsible for these aerosols clouds is still enigmatic. "Several candidates are being discussed, including volcanoes in Central America, Indonesia and North America. Future studies will be necessary to show the exact source of the aerosol clouds of 536/540," says Dr. Toohey.
Story Source:
The above post is reprinted from materials provided by Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel (GEOMAR). Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
Journal Reference:
- Matthew Toohey, Kirstin Krüger, Michael Sigl, Frode Stordal, Henrik Svensen. Climatic and societal impacts of a volcanic double event at the dawn of the Middle Ages. Climatic Change, 2016; DOI:10.1007/s10584-016-1648-7
Source: Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel (GEOMAR). "Two volcanoes trigger crises of the late antiquity: International team of climate researchers reconstruct global cooling in the reign of emperor Justinian." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 19 April 2016. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/04/160419083247.htm>.
Micro heart muscle created from stem cells
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New technique offers cheaper, faster method to create heart tissue for testing drugs and modeling disease
April 20, 2016
Gladstone Institutes
Scientists have invented a new way to create three-dimensional human heart tissue from stem cells. The tissue can be used to model disease and test drugs, and it opens the door for a precision medicine approach to treating heart disease. Although there are existing techniques to make three-dimensional tissues from heart cells, the new method dramatically reduces the number of cells needed, making it an easier, cheaper, and more efficient system.
Scientists at the Gladstone Institutes have invented a new way to create three-dimensional human heart tissue from stem cells. The tissue can be used to model disease and test drugs, and it opens the door for a precision medicine approach to treating heart disease. Although there are existing techniques to make three-dimensional tissues from heart cells, the new method dramatically reduces the number of cells needed, making it an easier, cheaper, and more efficient system.
"We have bioengineered micro-scale heart tissues with a method that can easily be reproduced, which will enable scientists in stem cell biology and the drug industry to study heart cells in their proper context," said first author Nathaniel Huebsch, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in the Conklin lab at Gladstone. "In turn, this will enhance our ability to discover treatments for heart disease."
Creating heart cells from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) that are derived from a patient's skin cells enables scientists to study and test drugs on that patient's specific disease. However, cells made from iPSCs are relatively immature, resembling heart cells in an embryo more than cells in an adult. As such, these cells are inadequate for drug testing because they do not properly predict how a drug will affect adult heart cells. Additionally, heart cells created from iPSCs are challenging to make and work with, so creating large quantities can be difficult. Therefore, the fewer cells needed, the better.
The micro heart muscle addresses both of these concerns. Forcing the cells to organize and stretch into three-dimensional tissue helps spur development and coaxes them into resembling more mature cells that can better predict how a drug will affect adult heart cells. Also, the new method–published in the journal Scientific Reports–requires a thousand-fold fewer cells to grow the tissue than other tissue engineering techniques. Using fewer cells allows the scientists to do many more experiments with the same amount of resources.
Working in collaboration with Kevin Healy, PhD, at the University of California, Berkeley, the researchers first generated heart muscle cells and connective tissue cells from iPSCs. They then combined these cells in a special dish shaped like a tiny dog bone. This unique shape encouraged the cells to self-organize into elongated muscle fibers. Within a couple of days, the micro tissues resembled heart muscle both structurally and functionally. For example, when the researchers tested how the tissue responded to certain drugs that impair fetal heart cells but not adult heart cells, the micro heart muscle performed more like adult heart tissue.
"The beauty of this technique is that it is very easy and robust, but it still allows you to create three-dimensional miniature tissues that function like normal tissues," said senior author Bruce Conklin, MD, a senior investigator at Gladstone. "Our research shows that you can create these complex tissues with a simple template that exploits the inherent properties of these cells to self-organize. We think that the micro heart muscle will provide a superior resource for conducting research and developing therapies for heart disease."
Story Source:
The above post is reprinted from materials provided by Gladstone Institutes. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
Journal Reference:
- Nathaniel Huebsch, Peter Loskill, Nikhil Deveshwar, C. Ian Spencer, Luke M. Judge, Mohammad A. Mandegar, Cade B. Fox, Tamer M.A. Mohamed, Zhen Ma, Anurag Mathur, Alice M. Sheehan, Annie Truong, Mike Saxton, Jennie Yoo, Deepak Srivastava, Tejal A. Desai, Po-Lin So, Kevin E. Healy, Bruce R. Conklin. Miniaturized iPS-Cell-Derived Cardiac Muscles for Physiologically Relevant Drug Response Analyses. Scientific Reports, 2016; 6: 24726 DOI: 10.1038/srep24726
Source: Gladstone Institutes. "Micro heart muscle created from stem cells: New technique offers cheaper, faster method to create heart tissue for testing drugs and modeling disease." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 20 April 2016. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/04/160420151621.htm>.
Healthy diet may reduce high blood pressure risk after gestational diabetes
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April 19, 2016
NIH/Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
Sticking to a healthy diet in the years after pregnancy may reduce the risk of high blood pressure among women who had pregnancy-related (gestational) diabetes, according to a study.
Sticking to a healthy diet in the years after pregnancy may reduce the risk of high blood pressure among women who had pregnancy-related (gestational) diabetes, according to a study by researchers at the National Institutes of Health and other institutions.
The study was published in Hypertension.
"Our study suggests that women who have had gestational diabetes may indeed benefit from a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains and low in red and processed meats," said the study's senior author, Cuilin Zhang, M.D., Ph.D., a senior investigator in the Epidemiology Branch of NIH's Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).
Funding for the study also was provided by NIH's National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases and National Cancer Institute.
In fact, a healthy diet was associated with lower risk for high blood pressure even in obese women. Obesity is a risk factor for high blood pressure. But obese women in the study who adhered to a healthy diet had a lower risk of high blood pressure, when compared to obese women who did not.
Approximately 5 percent of pregnant women in the United States develop gestational diabetes, despite not having diabetes before becoming pregnant. The condition results in high blood sugar levels, which can increase the risk of early labor and a larger than average baby, which may result in problems during delivery. For most women with the condition, blood sugar levels return to normal after birth. However, later in life, women who had gestational diabetes are at higher risk for type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure.
The current study is the first to show that adopting a healthy diet–known to reduce high blood pressure risk among the general population–also reduces the risk among women with prior gestational diabetes. In an earlier study, Dr. Zhang and her colleagues reported that a healthy diet after gestational diabetes reduces the risk for Type 2 diabetes.
To conduct the study, the researchers analyzed the health histories of nearly 4,000 women participating in the Nurses' Health Study II, part of the Diabetes & Women's Health study. Every four years, study participants responded to questionnaires on their eating habits. When appropriate, the researchers categorized the women's responses according to three healthy dietary approaches: the Alternative Healthy Eating Index, Mediterranean-style Diet, and the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH). These approaches emphasize consumption of nuts, legumes, whole grains and fish, and limit consumption of red and processed meats, salt, and added sugars.
After they statistically accounted for smoking, family history, and other factors known to increase high blood pressure risk, the researchers found that women who adhered to a healthy diet were 20 percent less likely to develop high blood pressure than those who did not.
"High blood pressure affects about 30 percent of U.S. adults and increases the risk for heart disease, kidney disease, and stroke," Dr. Zhang said. "Our study shows that a healthful diet is associated with decreased high blood pressure in an at-risk population."
Story Source:
The above post is reprinted from materials provided by NIH/Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
Journal Reference:
- Shanshan Li, Yeyi Zhu, Jorge E. Chavarro, Wei Bao, Deirdre K. Tobias, Sylvia H. Ley, John P. Forman, Aiyi Liu, James Mills, Katherine Bowers, Marin Strøm, Susanne Hansen, Frank B. Hu, Cuilin Zhang. Healthful Dietary Patterns and the Risk of Hypertension Among Women With a History of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus. Hypertension, 2016; HYPERTENSIONAHA.115.06747 DOI:10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.115.06747
Source: NIH/Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. "Healthy diet may reduce high blood pressure risk after gestational diabetes." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 19 April 2016. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/04/160419081659.htm>.
New hope for spinal cord injuries
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April 15, 2016
Hokkaido University
Stem cells have been used successfully, for the first time, to promote regeneration after injury to a specialized band of nerve fibers that are important for motor function.
Stem cells have been used successfully, for the first time, to promote regeneration after injury to a specialized band of nerve fibres that are important for motor function.
Researchers from Hokkaido University in Japan together with an international team of scientists implanted specialized embryonic stem cells into the severed spinal cords of rats. The stem cells, called neural progenitor cells, were taken from rat embryos and directed to develop as spinal cord tissue. The implants, or "grafts," promoted extensive regeneration of the severed nerve fibres, with the rats showing improvement in their ability to move their forelimbs. The team also used grafts of human neural stem cells in injured rats with similar results, demonstrating the potential of the success of this method across species.
The corticospinal tract (CST) is a band of nerve fibres that travels from the brain, through the brain stem and into the spinal cord. This structure is very important for motor function in humans. Injuries to the CST can result in paralysis. Much research has been done, with some progress, on using stem cells to regenerate other bands of nerve fibres in the spinal cord. But these have involved small gaps between the severed nerves in the presence of bands of bridging tissue. Lesions to nerve fibres located in the CST, however, and those involving large gaps and no bands of bridging tissue have proven largely resistant to regeneration.
The success of this current trial, reported in Nature Medicine, is promising for the future treatment of humans with severe spinal cord injuries. But much work remains to be done before it can be translated into clinical treatments. Further research is required to determine the best cell type to be used for grafting and for establishing safe grafting methods.
Story Source:
The above post is reprinted from materials provided by Hokkaido University. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
Journal Reference:
- Ken Kadoya, Paul Lu, Kenny Nguyen, Corinne Lee-Kubli, Hiromi Kumamaru, Lin Yao, Joshua Knackert, Gunnar Poplawski, Jennifer N Dulin, Hans Strobl, Yoshio Takashima, Jeremy Biane, James Conner, Su-Chun Zhang, Mark H Tuszynski. Spinal cord reconstitution with homologous neural grafts enables robust corticospinal regeneration. Nature Medicine, 2016; DOI: 10.1038/nm.4066
Source: Hokkaido University. "New hope for spinal cord injuries." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 15 April 2016. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/04/160415144520.htm>.
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The Clinical Trials Transformation Initiative (CTTI) and Managing Change
Target Health has been a member of the Steering Committee of the Clinical Trials Transformation Initiative since 2008 and it has been a superior journey. At the Steering Committee meeting this past week in Washington, the theme focused on implementing and managing change within organizations. Companies large and small, as well as FDA shared what they are doing to bring all aspects of clinical research into the 21st century in order to get novel and innovative drugs and devices to patients in a timely and cost-effective manner. There were candid and forthright discussions and one of the conclusions was that in order to make things happen, find people who want to do it, support them, let them experiment, and yes fail from time to time, and do not be afraid of change.
Springtime in New York City is Glorious
Springtime in NYC – Park Avenue Mall ©Target Health Inc. 2016
ON TARGET is the newsletter of Target Health Inc., a NYC – based, full – service, contract research organization (eCRO), providing strategic planning, regulatory affairs, clinical research, data management, biostatistics, medical writing and software services to the pharmaceutical and device industries, including the paperless clinical trial.
For more information about Target Health contact Warren Pearlson (212-681-2100 ext. 165). For additional information about software tools for paperless clinical trials, please also feel free to contact Dr. Jules T. Mitchel or Ms. Joyce Hays. The Target Health software tools are designed to partner with both CROs and Sponsors. Please visit the Target Health Website.
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Public Health: Soil Conservation Leads to Healthy Crops, Leading to Healthy Consumption and Healthy Humans
Soil Profile: Soil scientists use the capital letters O, A, B, C, and E to identify the master horizons, and lowercase letters for distinctions of these horizons. Most soils have three major horizons?the surface horizon (A), the subsoil (B), and the substratum (C). Some soils have an organic horizon (O) on the surface, but this horizon can also be buried. The master horizon, E, is used for subsurface horizons that have a significant loss of minerals (eluviation). Hard bedrock, which is not soil, uses the letter R. Graphic credit: Wilsonbiggs – derived work from File:SOIL PROFILE.png by Hridith Sudev Nambiar at English Wikipedia., CC BY-SA 4.0,https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=46207693
A nation that destroys its soil destroys itself. – Franklin D. Roosevelt
The Romans realized that the soil would become depleted if it did not receive fertilization. They were one of the early civilizations to employ a type of mixed farming. They would use manure from their farm animals to help revitalize their 1) ___. Yet the Romans did suffer from a decline in food production toward the end of their empire due to land overuse. One factor contributing to the fall of past civilizations, like Mesopotamia, and those of the Mediterranean region, was due in part to bad management of the landscape.
The U.S. is beginning to measure soil health by specific benchmarks used to evaluate soil health like CO2 release, humus levels, microbial activity, and available calcium. Soil health testing is spreading in the USA, Australia and Europe. Cornell University has had a Soil Health Test since 2006 and offers many types of individual soil health tests as well as three different soil health testing packages. The approach is to add into common chemical nutrient testing a biological set of factors not normally included in routine soil 2) ___ . The best example is adding biological soil respiration (CO2-Burst) as a test procedure; this has already been adapted to modern commercial labs in the past 10 years. In the last 40 years, USA soils have also lost up to 75% of their carbon (humus), causing biological fertility to drop drastically. Many critics of the current system say this is sufficient evidence that the old soil testing models have failed us, and need to be replaced with new approaches. These older models have stressed maximum 3) ___ and yield calibration to such an extent that related factors have been overlooked. As a result, huge agri-business farming has overlooked enormous quantities of valuable top soil erosion, replaced with synthetic fertilizer. Also used to replace lost soil nutrients, these farms have caused surface and groundwater pollution, by adding excessive amounts of nutrients like nitrates and phosphates, which eventually end up in our waterways and our 4) ___ water. This problem has grown enormously, and is reported to be the worst in the U.S. since the 1970s, before the advent of environmental consciousness.
In a healthy farm system, agriculture works in harmony with the natural environment. This begins with healthy soil that stores water and nutrients and provides a stable base to support plant roots. In a sustainable system, soil is kept in balance. Crops are rotated through the fields to replace 5) ___ in the soil. Where there is livestock, animals graze the land, then waste from those animals is used to fertilize the soil. The idea is that as farmers take from the land they also give back. Industrial farms disregard that need for balance. Land is used continuously and not given proper rest. Crops are not rotated in a way that replenishes the soil. Manure and chemical fertilizers are used to feed the soil, but through over-application these additives become a problem. Factory farms concentrate an unnatural number of animals in one place, which creates an unmanageable amount of waste. For example, a single hog excretes up to 17.5 pounds of manure and urine each day. Put 1,000 hogs together, and that's six million pounds of waste each year. On a factory farm containing 35,000 hogs, over four million pounds of waste are produced each week, and over 200 million pounds each year. Large concentrations of animals squeezed together, causes 6) ___ which is why so many animals are given antibiotics, usually in their feed. On a sustainable farm, animal waste can be a tool, in factory-farm amounts it becomes a major pollutant.
The creation and disposal of such enormous quantities of waste has a devastating effect on the air, water and soil surrounding factory farms. Unlike human waste, livestock manure is not processed for sanitation. On factory farms it is commonly mixed with water and held in pits (called lagoons), and then spread or sprayed on cropland. But the system often suffers from an excess of manure: the lagoons can leak or spill, for instance, or the manure is over-applied to fields, which can cause it to run off into surface waters. This manure carries with it other substances that are used on industrial farms. These include 7) ___ and artificial growth hormones, which contaminate waterways and affect the plants and animals that live in them. Salt, a common component of manure from industrial dairies, can damage soil quality and contributes to erosion. All of these nutrients and heavy metals present in animal feed are also excreted by livestock, and so end up being applied to cropland. These include zinc, copper, chromium, arsenic, cadmium and even lead. In balanced amounts, some of these elements can be good for soil and promote plant growth. But as factory farms over-apply manure to fields, a significant quantity of nutrients builds up in the soil and can actually reduce the soil's fertility. This damage is difficult to reverse, and ultimately puts fertile cropland out of use. Factory farms emit harmful gases and particles such as methane and hydrogen sulfide, which can contribute to global warming and harm the health of those living or working nearby. Air pollution results from the overuse of machinery, the mismanagement of manure, and the irresponsible feeding practices that characterize industrial farming. Chemical fertilizers and pesticides have turned agriculture into a leading source of water pollution in the United States. Runoff from factory farms kills fish, degrades aquatic habitats and threatens drinking water supplies. Additionally, factory farms use tremendous amounts of water, which cuts into our precious supplies of water that are not contaminated.
Soil is not just dirt! Soil is a mixture of minerals, air, water, and organic matter such as roots, decaying plant parts, fungi, earthworms, bacteria, and microorganisms. An acre of healthy topsoil can contain 900 pounds of earthworms, 2,400 pounds of fungi, 1,500 pounds of bacteria, 133 pounds of protozoa, and 890 pounds of arthropods and algae. Factory farms also harm American farmland through their consumption of massive quantities of feed crops. Consider this: The average cow eats roughly 30 pounds of food each day. The beef industry raises more than 30 million cows each year. Some of those cows feed themselves by grazing on pasture, but the vast majority are raised in feedlots, where they eat corn and soybeans. The result: American cropland is pushed hard to produce an extraordinary amount of grain. And the natural grazing food for cows is not corn, which makes them sick. In response to this demand, conventional crop producers have adopted intensive growing practices. These methods increase crop yields, but they also damage the soil and throw natural systems out of balance, primarily due to erosion and loss of fertility. Crop farming is an extractive process, meaning that as plants grow, they take nutrients from the soil and turn it into plant matter. When the plants are harvested, the nutrients leave the soil's system. Sustainable practices replenish these nutrients, using compost, manure, or green manures, which are plants that naturally deposit nutrients in the soil. Instead of replenishing the soil, intensive practices use chemical fertilizers to supply only what is necessary to grow the next round of crops. Chemical fertilizers are not as effective as natural sources of fertility, and are known to cause long-term depletion of organic matter, soil compaction, and degradation of overall soil quality. In 2005, American farmers used more than 22 million tons of chemical fertilizers.
Tilling is another aspect of farming that has gone out of balance in industrial practice. When land is plowed, old organic matter is turned under the soil in order to plant a new crop. However, when soil is bare it is most susceptible to 8) ___. There are many ways to protect against this. Farmers can leave strips of land untilled, to act as a catch for water-borne erosion. Instead of plowing up and down hills, leaving furrows that carry wet soil straight downhill, they can plow with the contours, making furrows that act as tiny retaining walls. And they can grow cover crops in the off-season, whose plants anchor the soil with their 9) ___. In the drive to produce ever more grain, however, precautions like these are often not taken. Currently, the average rate of soil erosion on US cropland is seven tons per acre per year. This is a serious problem, because erosion causes fertile farmland to lose nutrients and water retention ability. Because the first thing to go is precious topsoil, the soil removed by erosion contains about three times more nutrients and 1.5 to five times more organic matter than that which remains behind. The National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service writes that erosion is the single greatest threat to soil productivity in the United States.
Organic fertilizers are composed entirely of organic matter such as manure and compost, these contain a wide range of nutrients and replenish the soil's organic composition. USDA Certified Organic produce can only be grown using natural fertilizers. A nutrient-rich mixture of decaying organic matter (typically leaves and other plant parts) used as fertilizer for plants. Synthetic or chemical fertilizer is composed primarily of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium; these petroleum-based soil additives lack the organic matter contained in natural fertilizers.
By using farming techniques such as crop 10) ___, conservation tillage, raising animals on pasture and natural fertilization, sustainable farmers produce food without having a negative effect on the environment. Instead of harming soil, air and water, sustainable farms actually enhance and preserve the land so that future generations can continue to use it for healthy food production.
ANSWERS: 1) soils; 2) testing; 3) yield; 4) drinking; 5) nutrients; 6) sickness; 7) antibiotics; 8) erosion; 9) roots; 10) rotation
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William Prout MD (1785-1850) and Michael Pollan (1955 to Present)
William Prout by Henry Wyndham Phillips; Source: Wikipedia commons
William Prout FRS (1785-1850) was an English chemist, physician, and natural theologian. He is remembered today mainly for what is called Prout's hypothesis. Our History of Medicine series is interested in Prout because he was one of the first (if not the first) to do chemical research into food substances and their relationship to human health.
Prout was born in Horton, Gloucestershire in 1785 and educated at 17 years of age by a clergyman, followed by the Redland Academy at Bristol and Edinburgh University, where he graduated with an MD degree in 1811. His professional life was spent as a practicing physician in London, but he also occupied himself with chemical research. He was an active worker in biological chemistry and carried out many analyses of the secretions of living organisms, which he believed were produced by the breakdown of bodily tissues. In 1823, he discovered that stomach juices contain hydrochloric acid, which can be separated from gastric juice by distillation. In 1827, he proposed the classification of substances in food into sugars and starches, oily bodies, and albumen, which would later become known as carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. Prout is better remembered, however, for his researches into physical chemistry. In 1815, based on the tables of atomic weights available at the time, he anonymously hypothesized that the atomic weight of every element is an integer multiple of that of hydrogen, suggesting that the hydrogen atom is the only truly fundamental particle (which he called protyle), and that the atoms of the other elements are made of groupings of various numbers of hydrogen atoms. While Prout's hypothesis was not borne out by later more-accurate measurements of atomic weights, it was a sufficiently fundamental insight into the structure of the atom that in 1920, Ernest Rutherford chose the name of the newly discovered proton to, among other reasons, give credit to Prout. He also contributed to the improvement of the barometer, and the Royal Society of London adopted his design as a national standard.
Prout was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1819 and delivered the Goulstonian Lecture to the Royal College of Physicians in 1831 on the application of chemistry to medicine. He wrote the eighth Bridgewater Treatise, Chemistry, Meteorology, and the Function of Digestion, considered with reference to Natural Theology. It was in this work that he coined the term convection to describe a type of energy transfer. The Prout is a unit of nuclear binding energy, and is 1/12 the binding energy of the deuteron, or 185.5 keV. It is named after William Prout.
In 1814, Prout married Agnes Adam, daughter of Alexander Adam, of Edinburgh, Scotland, and together they had six children. Prout died in London in 1850 and was buried in Kensal Green Cemetery.
Michael Pollan (1955 to Present)
Michael_Pollan speaking_at_Yale in 2011. Source: Ragesossderivative work: Gobonobo (talk) – Michael_Pollan_at_Yale_1.jpg, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=14734781
Michael Pollan is an American author, journalist, activist, and professor of journalism at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. He was born on Long Island, New York and is the son of author and financial consultant Stephen Pollan and columnist Corky Pollan. Pollan received a B.A. in English from Bennington College in 1977 and an M.A. in English from Columbia University in 1981.
In The Omnivore's Dilemma, Pollan describes four basic ways that human societies have obtained food: the current industrial system, the big organic operation, the local self-sufficient farm, and the hunter-gatherer. Pollan follows each of these processes – from a group of plants photosynthesizing calories through a series of intermediate stages, ultimately into a meal. Along the way, he suggests that there is a fundamental tension between the logic of nature and the logic of human industry. That the way we eat represents our most profound engagement with the natural world, and that industrial eating obscures crucially important ecological relationships and connections. On December 10, 2006 The New York Times named The Omnivore's Dilemma one of the five best nonfiction books of the year. On May 8, 2007, the James Beard Foundation named The Omnivore's Dilemma its 2007 winner for the best food writing. It was the book of focus for the University of Pennsylvania's Reading Project in 2007, and the book of choice for Washington State University's Common Reading Program in 2009-10.
Pollan's discussion of the industrial food chain is in large part a critique of modern agribusiness. According to the book, agribusiness has lost touch with the natural cycles of farming, wherein livestock and crops intertwine in mutually beneficial circles. Pollan's critique of modern agribusiness focuses on what he describes as the overuse of corn for purposes ranging from fattening cattle to massive production of corn oil, high-fructose corn syrup, and other corn derivatives. He describes what he sees as the inefficiencies and other drawbacks of factory farming and gives his assessment of organic food production and what it's like to hunt and gather food. He blames those who set the rules (e.g., politicians in Washington, D.C., bureaucrats at the United States Department of Agriculture, Wall Street capitalists, and agricultural conglomerates like Archer Daniels Midland) of what he calls a destructive and precarious agricultural system that has wrought havoc upon the diet, nutrition, and well-being of Americans. Pollan finds hope in Joel Salatin's Polyface Farm in Virginia, which he sees as a model of sustainability in commercial farming. Pollan appears in the documentary film King Corn (2007). In The Botany of Desire, Pollan explores the concept of co-evolution, specifically of humankind's evolutionary relationship with four plants – apples, tulips, marijuana, and potatoes – from the dual perspectives of humans and the plants. He uses case examples that fit the archetype of four basic human desires, demonstrating how each of these botanical species are selectively grown, bred, and genetically engineered. The apple reflects the desire for sweetness, the tulip beauty, the marijuana intoxication, and the potato control. Pollan then unravels the narrative of his own experience with each of the plants, which he intertwines with a well-researched exploration into their social history. Each section presents a unique element of human domestication, or the human bumblebee as Pollan calls it. These range from the true story of Johnny Appleseed to Pollan's first-hand research with sophisticated marijuana hybrids in Amsterdam, to the alarming and paradigm-shifting possibilities of genetically engineered potatoes.
Pollan's book In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto, released on January 1, 2008, explores the relationship with what he terms nutritionism and the Western diet, with a focus on late 20th century food advice given by the science community. Pollan holds that consumption of fat and dietary cholesterol does not lead to a higher rate of coronary disease, and that the reductive analysis of food into nutrient components is a mistake. He questions the view that the point of eating is to promote health, pointing out that this attitude is not universal and that cultures that perceive food as having purposes of pleasure, identity, and sociality may end up with better health. He explains this seeming paradox by vetting, and then validating, the notion that nutritionism and, therefore, the whole Western framework through which we intellectualize the value of food is more a religious and faddish devotion to the mythology of simple solutions than a convincing and reliable conclusion of incontrovertible scientific research. Pollan spends the rest of his book explicating his first three phrases: Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. He contends that most of what Americans now buy in supermarkets, fast food stores, and restaurants is not in fact food, and that a practical tip is to eat only those things that people of his grandmother's generation would have recognized as food.
In 2009, Food Rules: An Eater's Manual was published. This short work is a condensed version of his previous efforts, intended to provide a simple framework for healthy and sustainable diet. It is divided into three sections, further explicating Pollan's principles of Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. It includes his rules (i.e., let others sample your food and the whiter the bread, the sooner you'll be dead). In Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation, published in 2013, Pollan explores the methods by which cooks mediate between nature and culture. The book is organized in four sections corresponding to the classical elements of Fire (cooking with heat), Water (braising and boiling with pots), Air (breadmaking), and Earth (fermenting). Pollan has contributed to Greater Good, a social psychology magazine published by the Greater Good Science Center at University of California, Berkeley. His article Edible Ethics discusses the intersection of ethical eating and social psychology. In his 1998 book A Place of My Own: The Education of an Amateur Builder, Pollan methodically traced the design and construction of the out-building where he writes. The 2008 re-release of this book was re-titled A Place of My Own: The Architecture of Daydreams. In 2014 Pollan wrote the foreword in the healthy eating cookbook The Pollan Family Table. The book is co-authored by his mother Corky Pollan and sisters Lori Pollan, Dana Pollan, and Tracy Pollan.
Pollan is a contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine, a former executive editor for Harper's Magazine, and author of five books: In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto (2008) The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals (2006), The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World (2001), A Place of My Own (1997), and Second Nature: A Gardener's Education (1991). In 2016, Netflix will release a four-part documentary series based on Pollan's book Cooked (2013) and directed by Alex Gibney. In 2015, a documentary version of Pollan's book In Defense of Food premiered on PBS. Pollan also co-starred in the documentary, Food, Inc. (2008), for which he was also a consultant. In 2010 Pollan was interviewed for the film Queen of the Sun: What are the bees telling us?, a feature-length documentary about honey bees and colony collapse disorder. He was also interviewed for Vanishing of the Bees, a documentary also about colony collapse, directed by Maryam Henein and George Langworthy.
In 2015, Pollan received the Washburn Award from the Boston Museum of Science, awarded annually to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution toward public understanding and appreciation of science and the vital role it plays in our lives and was named as a fellow at Harvard University's Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. He has also won the James Beard Leadership award, the Reuters World Conservation Union Global Awards in environmental journalism, the James Beard Foundation Awards for best magazine series in 2003, and the Genesis Award from the Humane Society of the United States. His articles have been anthologized in Best American Science Writing (2004), Best American Essays (1990 and 2003), The Animals: Practicing Complexity (2006) and the Norton Book of Nature Writing (1990).
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Greenness Around Homes Linked to Lower Mortality
According to an article published online in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives (14 April 2016), women with the highest levels of vegetation, or greenness, near their homes had a 12% lower death rate compared to women with the lowest levels of vegetation near their homes. The study found the biggest differences in death rates from kidney disease, respiratory disease, and cancer. The study also explored how an environment with trees, shrubs, and plants might lower mortality rates and results showed that improved mental health and social engagement are the strongest factors, while increased physical activity and reduced air pollution also contribute.
The study examined greenness around the homes of 108,630 women in the long-term Nurses' Health Study by mapping home locations and using high resolution satellite imagery to determine the level of vegetation within 250 meters and 1,250 meters of homes. The study then followed the women from 2000 to 2008, tracking changes in vegetation and participant deaths. During the study, 8,604 deaths occurred.
The results consistently found lower mortality rates in women as levels of trees and plants increased around their homes. This trend was seen for separate causes of death, as well as when all causes were combined. When study compared women in the areas with highest greenness to women in the lowest, they found a 41% lower death rate for kidney disease, 34% lower death rate for respiratory disease, and 13% lower death rate for cancer in the greenest areas.
The authors also looked at characteristics that can otherwise contribute to mortality risk, such as age, race, ethnicity, smoking, and socioeconomic status. This enabled them to be more confident that vegetation plays a role in reduced mortality, rather than these factors. The authors even took into consideration if participants moved or the vegetation near their homes changed during the study.
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Body-Mass Index in 2.3 Million Adolescents and Cardiovascular Death in Adulthood
In light of the worldwide increase in childhood obesity, a study published online the New England Journal of Medicine (13 April 2016), examined the association between body-mass index (BMI) in late adolescence and death from cardiovascular causes in adulthood.
Data on BMI, as measured from 1967 through 2010 in 2.3 million Israeli adolescents (mean age, 17.3 years), were grouped according to age- and gender-specific percentiles from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Primary outcomes were the number of deaths attributed to coronary heart disease, stroke, sudden death from an unknown cause, or a combination of all three categories (total cardiovascular causes) by mid-2011.
Results showed that during 42,297,007 person-years of follow-up, 2,918 of 32,127 deaths (9.1%) were from cardiovascular causes, including 1,497 from coronary heart disease, 528 from stroke, and 893 from sudden death. On multivariable analysis, there was a graded increase in the risk of death from cardiovascular causes and all causes that started among participants in the group that was in the 50th to 74th percentiles of BMI (i.e., within the accepted normal range). After adjustment for gender, age, birth year, sociodemographic characteristics, and height, the hazard ratios in the obese group (>95th percentile for BMI), as compared with the reference group in the 5th to 24th percentiles, were 4.9 for death from coronary heart disease, 2.6 for death from stroke, 2.1 for sudden death, and 3.5 for death from total cardiovascular causes, all statistically significant. Hazard ratios for death from cardiovascular causes in the same percentile groups increased from 2.0 during follow-up for 0 to 10 years to 4.1 during follow-up for 30 to 40 years; during both periods, hazard ratios were consistently high for death from coronary heart disease. The findings also persisted in extensive sensitivity analyses.
The authors concluded that a BMI in the 50th to 74th percentiles, within the accepted normal range, during adolescence was associated with increased cardiovascular and all-cause mortality during 40 years of follow-up and that overweight and obesity were strongly associated with increased cardiovascular mortality in adulthood.


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I am from a very small town in Buenos Aires Argentina called Germania. It is an Italian immigrant town. My dad moved to Germania with my mom from the big city to be the only Doctor in town and start their family. I studied dance since I was 3 years old and I got my dance teaching degree at 17 years old. I finished high school with honors. Since I was a little baby my parents always traveled with my family and I and that gave me the passion of traveling and spending time in hotels, that's why I decided to pursue my career in Hospitality. Hospitality brought me to the US where I met the love of my life Josh, after one year in a half of dating we got married and we had two beautiful boys, Wyatt (8) and Cannon (5). All my years of working in hospitality gave me experience in Customer Service and how to meet my clients needs.I love working with people and helping them to get what they are looking for. I am a very hard working woman. Working honestly with my clients is my number one priority. I work 24/7, and I am very fast responding to my clients inquires. I am fluent in Spanish and English. Since a very young age I traveled all around the world and that gave me the opportunity to know about different cultures. I love working with clients from different countries.
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Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Colorado properties is a great place to work that is the most tech savvy real estate brokerage available.


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Monday, 15 December 2008
Matar Kachori
250grm green peas,
300grm maida,
1spoon Garlic and chili paste,
1tsp dalchinipowder,
1tsp besan,
coriander leaves.
oil for frying.
Pocedure To Make Matar Kachori:
1. Grind green peas along with salt , Garlic and chili.
2. Put little oil in pan and add matarpaste.
3. Then put one spoon besan and saute it for a while and add coriander and salt to taste.
4. Now make dough of maida.
make 12 portions roll it and put 1spoon of masala.Pack it and roll it with the help of fingers.
5. Heat the oil and fry brown.
6.Matar kachori is ready.Serve with curd or chuteny.
Friday, 28 November 2008
Sweet Puri/Meethi Puri/Pua
2 Cups Wheat Flour
1/4 Cup Ghee(for moyan)
1/2 Cup Sugar/Jagery
4-5 Cardemom (Fine Powder)
1 Cup Milk
Ghee to fry
Procedure To Make sweet Puri:
1. Take wheat. Mix all the ingredients.And kneed the dough.
2. Make small balls of the dough.And roll it like chapati.
3. Cut it into small puris.
4. Take enough ghee in frying pan.Heat it.And fry the puris.
5. Sweet Puris are ready.
Methi Ke Gatte
For Gatte
1 cup fenugreek leaves (methi) finely chopped
1 cup bengal gram flour (besan)
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp red chili powder
2 tbsp Oil
2 tbsp curd
salt to taste
2 - 3 pinch asafoetida(Hing)
For seasoning
3 1/2 tblsp Cooking Oil
1 tsp Mustard Seeds
1 Red Chilli crushed
1 tsp Coriander Powder
1 tsp Dry Mango Powder (amchur)
1 tsp Garam Masala Powder
1 -2 pinch Asafoetida(Hing)
1. Mix everything methi, gram flour, asafoetida(Hing), red chilli powder, coriander powder and salt.
2. Mix in mustard oil and enough water to knead into a firm dough.
Divide into 3 equal parts and roll into cylinders.
3. Boil some water in a pot and mix in these cylinders for 15 - 20 minutes.
4. Drain, cool and cut into 1" long pieces.
5. Heat up oil.
6. Mix in asafoetida(Hing), mustard seeds and when the seeds crackle, mix in the gattes.
7. Saute
8. Mix in coriander powder, crushed red chillies, garam masala powder and amchur powder.
9. Stir to mix well.
10. Methi ke Gatte are ready.Serve with Chapatis or Rice.
Aloo Gobi Saag
2 Medium Size Potato
1 Medium size Cauliflower
1 Big Onion(Finely Chopped)
1 tsp Ginger Garlic Paste
1 tsp red Chilli powder
1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
A pinch of Hing
1 tsp Coriander Powder
1 tsp Garam Masala Powder
Coriander leaves to garnish
1/2 tsp Mustard Seeds
1/2 tsp Cumin Seeds
1 tbsp oil
Procedure To Make Aloo Gobi ka saag:
1. Cut the Potato in cubes.
2. Seperate the florets from Cauliflower. Wash & drain.
3. Heat Oil in a Pan , add Cumin and mustard seeds and Hing.
4. Add Onions & fry till translucent.
5. Then add ginger, garlic Paste,Coriander Powder,red Chilli powder,Turmeric Powder stir, Mix in Potatoes ,(pour 1 cup water ) cover to cook.
6. When the Potatoes are half done , add the flowrets,& salt. Cover to Cook.Add water if required.
7. Open afer a few minutes,add Garam Masala Powder. Garnish with Coriender leaves
& Serve hot with Breads, Rice, Rotis or as a side dish.
1 cup Steamed Sprouted Moong
1 Onion chopped
1 Tomato chopped
1 cucumber Chopped
1 carrot Grated
salt to taste
Red chili powder to taste
11/2 tsp. lemon juice
1/4th tsp. roasted cumin (Jeera) powder
Finely chopped coriander leaves
1/2 tsp. grounded sugar (optional)
1/2 tsp Chaat Masala
Wash and drain sprouts.
Add Onion, tomato and other ingredients.
Mix well.
Garnish with coriander.
Note: Other sprouted lentils can also be used in place of moong.
Thursday, 27 November 2008
Tomato Puri
2 Big tomatoes
1 tsp Cumin seeds
2 Green Chillies
1/2 Inch Ginger(Grated)
1 tsp Coriander leaves
1 tsp Turmeric Powder
1 tsp Red Chili Powder
salt to taste
Wheat Flour
Procedure To Make Tomato Puri:
1. Take Tomato,cumin seeds,chillies,ginger,coriander,turmeric powder,red chili powder and salt.Grind together to form fine pourie.
2. Add some wheat flour in it, and kneed softly.Keep adding wheat flour to form a soft dough,like chapati.
3. Take a small ball of it and roll like chapati,Make small Puri of diameter approx. 3-4 inch.
4. Take Cooking Oil in a pan/kadhai.Heat it,and fry the puries till reddish brown in colour.
5. Tomato Puri is ready.Serve hot with Pickle or chutney.
Tuesday, 25 November 2008
Kadhi Pakora
Ingredients For Pakora:
(Type I)
1 cup Besan (Gram Flour)
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder
Baking Soda 1 pinch.
1/2 tsp Cumin Powder
salt to taste.
(Type II)
1 Cup Gram FLour
1/4 Cup Onion Chopped
1/4 Cup Spinach Chopped
1/4 Cup Potato Chopped
1 Tsp or Ginger paste Ginger Chopped
1 Tsp Red Chili Powder
Salt To Taste.
1/2 Tsp Baking Powder
Procedure to Make Pakoras:
1. Mix all Pakora Ingredients in 1/2 of water.
2. Heat Oil in Kadhai/Pan. Take small amount of paste in hand & drop small balls of it.
3. Deep fry the mixture till golden brown.Drain .
(Make sure to make enough Pakoras as it very Yummy to eat as it is.)
Ingredients For Kadhi:
1 cup Curd
1 tbsp Besan(Gram Flour)
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1/4 tsp Hing
1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder
1/2 tsp Garlic Paste
Mustard seeds 1pinch of
Methi Dana (Fenugreek Seeds) 1 pinch of
Curry leaves 10
salt to taste
Procedure To Make Kadhi:
1. Beat Yogurt & Gram Flour thick without any lumps.Mix Chilli Powder,salt,Turmeric powder.
2. Heat Oil in pan , add mustard,methi dana,Curry leaves & Hing.
3. Add Yogurt mixture ,bring to boil and simmer for about 10-15 minutes.
4. Keep Stirring to prevent lumps.
5. Add Pakoras & again simmer for about 5 miuntes.
6. serve hot with Steamed rice.
Monday, 24 November 2008
Veg Samosa
For Dough:
2 cups Maida or all-purpose flour
2 tbsp hot oil
Salt to taste
For filling:
2 potatoes
1 onion
½ cup peas
1 garlic (optional)
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp finely chopped ginger
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp mustard powder
5-6 chilies, finely cut
Spice powder (any garam masala)
Chopped coriander leaves
2 tbsp oil
Making the dough:
1. Sieve the flour and make a well at its center. Add 2 tbsp hot oil into the well. 2. Then mix it well.
3. Add an adequate amount of water to prepare semi-hard dough and knead it well. Cover it and keep aside for about 15-20 minutes.
4. When you start to make a covering for samosa, knead the flour again.
Making the filling:
1. First cook potatoes and cut them into small pieces.
2. Add cumin seeds, mustard seeds and turmeric powder in heated oil in a pan. When they begin to pop up, add onions to the oil and fry them, until they become translucent.
3. Then add fresh peas, garlic, ginger, chili and spice powder. Fry it for a few minutes.
4. Then add cooked potatoes. Fry the mixture in a low heat, until it becomes semi-dry.
5. Then add chopped coriander leaves and remove it from the heat. Let it cool down completely.
Now we have to stuff the filling in the dough to make a samosa.
6. Make lemon size balls of dough. Place the balls on a flat surface and press with a rolling pin to get an average thickness.
7. Cut it to make a half circle. Take one of the half circles. Dip your forefinger in water and line the edges of half circle with the wet finger. Then give it a shape of cone.
8.Stuff it with about 1 tbsp of prepared filling and seal it firmly. In the same way, make samosas with all the dough.
9. Heat enough oil in a frying pan. Deep-fry the samosa over a medium heat, until it becomes crispy and golden brown. Server it hot along with tomato sauce or tamarind chutney.
(You can also add chopped cashews or raisins to the filling in order to give a rich flavor. If you want to avoid high calories by frying, then bake the samosa in a pre-heated oven.)
Tuesday, 18 November 2008
Gatte Ki Sabji
Ingredients FOR GATTA :
Besan 200gm
red chilli powder 1/2tbs
haldi powder 1/2tbs
salt to taste
Ingredients FOR GRAVY:
red chilli powder 1tbs
haldi powder 1/2tbs
hingh powder (pinch of)
dhania-jeera powder 1/2tbs
ghee 2tbs
curd 1 small bowl
salt & cilantro(fresh chopped dhania) to taste
Procedure to make Gatte ki Sabzi:
1. Take kadhai and pour in it 1lt. water,allow it to boil on slow flame.
2. Now, at the other side take besan,2 tbs oil,salt to taste,red chilli powder1/2tbs,haldi powder 1/2 tbs.
3. Now mix it well untill it become solid like chapati dough,by sqeezing it.
4. Make small pieces of dough into round,then make roll abt 5-6 inches.
5. Allow it to boil in the boiled water for 6-7 minute.
6. After boiling allow it to cool for 2 min.
7. Don't discard that gatta's boiled water,remain it at side in another cantainer.
8. now take knife & cut the rolls into small pices,abt 1-2 inches.
9. Now take kadhai and pour ghee in it.
10. After few seconds add jeera in it.
11. When jeera is compeleted add in it pinch of hingh powder,red chilli powder and haldi powder,then immediately add curd into it and allow it to heat for 1-2 min.
12. Add gatta.salt,dhania.jeera powder,remaining water to it.
13. Cook it for 4-5 min.
14. garnished it with fresh cilantro over it.
15. Your gatte ki sabji is ready to eat with garam Chapati & rise.
Masala Baigan
Small brinjals 5 nos. (cleaned and tops removed and sliced vertically into strips - say like finger chips)
Onion one large, finely chopped
Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp.
Chili powder 1/4 tsp.
Curry leaves 8 nos
cumin seed 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds 1/2 tsp
Ginger Garlic Paste 2 tsp
Coriander leaves for garnish
Salt to taste
Oil for frying
Procedure to make Baingan Masala :
1. Heat oil in a kadai or pan and when hot add cumin seeds and musterd seeds and when they splutter, in goes the sliced onions.
2. When they are just about done, say a little browned, add in the powders ( turmeric + chili) and saut.
3. Now put in the sliced brinjals and toss around the masala adding salt to taste and close the pan and cook on slow flame.
4. Stir in between so that the brinjals doesn't get burnt. If it needs little more oil, do be generous. Cook on slow flame till done. Garnish with coriander leaves.
5. Serve with hot rice or puris or chappatis.
Monday, 17 November 2008
Rajgira Halwa
1 cup Rajgira Flour
1 tbsp Ghee
3/4th Cup Sugar
Cashew and Almonds to garnish
1 1/2 Cup Hot Water
Procedure to make Rajgira Halwa:
1. Take Ghee in a non stick pan.Heat it and add Rajgira flour.
2. Roast it until it becomes brown in colour.
3. Add hot water and stir it.
4. Add Sugar and mix well.Stir it for 2 min on medium flame.
5. Stir till halwa starts loosing Ghee from it.
6. Rajgira Halwa is ready.Garnish it with Almonds and Cashew.
Sunday, 16 November 2008
Sabudana Vada
1 cup Sabudana
1 cup coarsely ground roasted penuts
1/2 cup Rajgeera Flour
1/2 cup boiled and mashed potato
1/2 tsp red chilly powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
2 green chillies (finely chopped)
salt to taste
Procedure To Make Sabudana Vada:
1.Take the sabudana in a container, and add enough water that it barely comes above the surface of the sabudana.
2. Leave it like this for at least 4-5 hours.(The sago will soak up all the water, fluff up to become soft and spongy, so it can be squeezed between your fingers, without feeling sticky or mushy.)
3. Drain out any excess water, if remaining.
4. Add boiled mashed potatoes,green chillies,red chilly,cumin powder,Rajgeera flour and penut powder.Mix well.
5. Make the paste into equal-sized balls and flatten slightly to form patties.
6. Heat oil in a wide, flat pan and shallow fry the patties till golden.
7. Drain on paper towels and serve with seasoned curd.
Sabudana Khichdi
2 cups sabudana/sago
2-2 1/2 cups water - for soaking the sabudana
1 cup roasted peanut(coarsely ground into fine powder)
1 medium potato - boiled and chopped
10-12 roasted peanuts
3 tbsp ghee or cooking oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 green chillies - finely chopped
6-7 curry leaves - whole
1 tsp sugar (adjust per taste)
salt and lemon juice - to taste
chopped coriander leaves to garnish
Procedure To Make Sabudana Khichdi
1. Take the sabudana in a container, and add enough water that it barely comes above the surface of the sabudana.
2. Leave it like this for at least 4-5 hours.(The sago will soak up all the water, fluff up to become soft and spongy, so it can be squeezed between your fingers, without feeling sticky or mushy.)
3. Drain out any excess water, if remaining.
4. Chop your boiled potatoes into small cubes.
5. Take a non-stick pan and add the ghee to it. When it's a bit hot, add the cumin seeds, chopped green chillies and curry leaves and roasted peanuts.
6. Cook the potatoes for about 2 mins, then add the soaked sabudana to the pan. Add the coarsely ground peanut powder, salt, sugar and lemon juice and mix well, but gently. Cook the sabudana on medium-flame and stir gently to prevent clumping together. Once everything is mixed, and the sabudana khichdi gets a light-brown color, adjust for seasoning to your taste. Then remove from flame and set aside.
7.Garnish with the coriander leaves and serve the hot Sabudana(Sago) Khichdi with curd or lemon.
Friday, 14 November 2008
Daal Baati
Ingredients For Bati:
Wheat Flour 3 Cups
Baking soda 1/4 tsp
Vanaspati Ghee 3 tbsp
Sault to taste
Ajwain 1 tsp
Water to kneed
Procedure For Baati:
1. Take the flour add all the ingredients and make dough.Keep aside for 15 mins.
2. Prepare small balls out of this dough.
3. Roast these batis in Gas Tandoor.Turn occasionally.Cook till Baaties become golden in colour.
4. Pour Ghee on Baati.
5. Baati is ready.
Ingredients for daal:
1 cup Tooar daal
1 tbsp Chana daal
8 Garlic flakes
8 Curry leaves
2 Green Chillies
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp Turmeric Powder
1 tsp Red Chilly powder
1 pinch of Cumin seeds
1 pinch of Mustard seeds
1 Toamto chopped
2 tsp Turmerind paste diluted in water
Jaggery or Sugar to sweeten the taste
Salt to taste.
Procedure for Daal:-
1. Cook Toor dal.
2. Take some oil in a pan.Heat it and add cumin seeds and mustered seeds.
3. Add green chillies, curry leaves,garlic, red chilli powder,turmeric powder, garam masala and tomatoes.
4. Stir it well.
5. Add boiled toor dal and pour 4 cups of water.
6. Allow it to boil for 10 minutes.
7. Dal is ready.
8. Serve Daal bati with ghee.
Sunday, 5 October 2008
1 Big Eggplant (aubergine) cut into thin slices
1 Cup rice flour
1/2 tsp jeera/Cumin powder
1tsp Red chilly powder
1/2 tsp Salt
1. Rub salt on the eggplant slices at both sides and keep aside for 10 mins.(Eggplant slices will become watery).
2. Mix rice powder,jeera powder,chilly powder and salt.
3. Heat a pan and grease it with veg oil.
4. Take the Eggplant slices and dip in Rice flour, so that the four sticks to the slices.
5. Put 4-5 dipped slices on the frying pan and cover it.Turn the slices after 5 mins and cover with lid and keep it for 5 mins.
6. Hot kaafes are ready.Serve hot with ketchup.
Wednesday, 1 October 2008
Vada Paav
8-10 potatoes boiled, peeled and mashed
2 tsps garlic paste
1 tsp ginger paste
3 green chillies
1/2 tsp tumeric powder
1/2 tsp black mustard seeds
6-7 curry leaves
Salt to taste
2 cups bengal gram flour
Vegetable/ canola/ sunflower cooking oil for deep frying
6 Pav buns (square buns that look like burger buns but are smaller, so you can substitute)
1/2 cup Shengdaana Lehsun Chutney (peanut garlic chutney)
1.Mix the gram flour with enough water and salt to taste, to make a thick, smooth paste. Keep aside.
2.Mix the ginger and garlic pastes and add the green chillies to them. Grind into a smooth paste in the food processor.
3.Mix this paste with the mashed potatoes. Season with salt.
4.Heat 2 tbsps of oil in a pan on a medium flame and add the mustard seeds, curry leaves and tumeric powder. Fry till the seeds stop spluttering.
5.Add this to the potato and mix well.
6.Divide the potato mix into portions slighter smaller than a tennis ball. Smoothen by rolling between slightly greased palms.
7.Heat the oil for deep frying on a medium flame.
When the oil is hot, dip one potato ball at a time into the gram flour batter to coat well and then deep fry till golden. Drain on paper towels.
8.Take one Pav bun, slit in half (not completely - leave one edge joined) and put a spoonful each of Tamarind Chutney, Mint-Coriander Chutney and Shengdaana Lehsun Chutney (peanut garlic chutney) each on it. Place a potato ball on the bun and fold over, pressing down gently. Serve while the potato ball is still hot.
Sunday, 28 September 2008
Bread Rolls
Saturday, 27 September 2008
Bread Pattice
10 bread slices (edges removed)
4 Boiled Potatoes
2 Green chillies
1 tsp Musterd seeds
1 tsp jeera
1 tsp oil
1 cup Besan
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp jeera powder
1 tsp chilly powder
1 tsp Dhania powder
1 Pinch Soda
salt to taste
1. Take besan flour , add salt,chilly powder,jeera powder,dhania powder and turmeric powder.Mix well.
2. Add some water to form smooth batter.Keep aside.
3. Heat 1 tsp oil in a pan add musterd seeds and jeera.Add finely chopped green chillies and curry leaves , stir for 10 seconds.And add turmeric powder and red chilly powder.Mix well.Remove from heat.
4. Mix the above mixture with boiled mashed potatoes.Add salt according to taste.
5. Cut the bread slices diagonally to make triangular pieces.
6. Apply the potato mix on one bread slice cover with another bread slice.
7. Gently press the edges of breads.Can apply few drops of water to close the bread edges.
8. Mix a pinch of soda in the beasn batter.
9. Heat oil is frying pan.
10. Dip this bread in this batter and deep fry till a crisp golden crust is formed on both the sides of the pattice.
11. Remove them on a Kitchen paper or a tissue paper.
12. Serve hot with chutney or sauce accompanied with some hot beverage like Tea(chai) or Coffee.
Oatmeal - Tomato Omelette
1cup oat
1 cup water
1 onion(finely chopped)
1 tomato(finely chopped)
1 green chilly(finely chopped)
1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
1 pinch hing
1 pinch turmeric powder
1 tsp red chilly powder
salt to taste
1. Mix all the ingredients.
2. Heat the pan.
3. Put 1 tsp oil
4. Pud the above batter like dosa and spread it slowly.
5. Sprinkle some drops of oil on the upper surface to.
6. Let it cook for 2-3 mins on medium heat.
7. Turn it and let it cook from other side.
8. Serve hot with tomato ketchup or pickle
Thursday, 25 September 2008
Dahi Bhindi
450 gms Okra
2 tbsp Oil
1 tbsp Low Fat Yogurt
¼ tsp Turmeric Powder
1 Medium Onion, sliced
2 tsp Desicated Coconut
1 tbsp Chopped Coriander
2 Medium Tomatoes, sliced
3 Medium Green Chillies, chopped
Salt according to Taste
Wash, top and tail the okra, cut into 1 cm/ ½ in pieces and set aside.
Heat the oil in a medium frying pan, add the onion seeds, green chillies and onion and fry for about 5 minutes until the onion has turned golden brown.
Lower the heat and add the turmeric, desicated coconut and salt and fry for about 1 minute.
Never add the okra, turn the heat to medium-high and quickly stir-fry for a few minutes until lightly golden.
Add the yogurt, tomatoes and finally the fresh coriander. Cook for a further 2 minutes.
Transfer into a serving dish and serve immediately
Wednesday, 24 September 2008
Sambhar Vada
Urad Dal 250 gm
A pinch Soda-bi-carb
Salt To taste
Oil for deep frying
1. Soak dal overnight. Drain off the water.
2. Grind it in grinder without using water.
3. Heat oil in karahi. By the time the oil gets heated, beat the paste with the help of very little water till it becomes fluffy.
4. Add salt and soda-bi-carb.
5. Wet your palm, spread 1 tbsp of the paste on it, make a hole in the center and give the desired shape.
6. Carefully remove it from your palm and fry to a golden brown color.
7. Serve hot with Sambar and Chutney.
Shahi Bread With Custerd Milk
5 Bread Slices
1 Cup Sugar
1 Cup Water
2 drops rose icence or 1 tsp Cardamom powder
2 Cup Milk
2 tsp Custerd Powder
Ghee to fry
1. Cut the bread slices diagonally into triangular pieces.
2. Deep fry in ghee untill it becomes brown in colour.
3. Drain on kitchen towel.
4. Make Chashni of 1 cup sugar into water and add rose icence or cardamom powder for aroma.
5. Mix custerd powder in 2 tbsp milk.
6. Boil rest of the milk and add this paste in it stirr well.Add sugar if like sweeter taste.Refrigerate it.
7. Deep the fried bread slices in the chashni and keep aside.
8. Pour custerd milk on Shaahi bread while serving.
Palak Paneer
4 cups Palak
1 cup water
1 cup Paneer(cubes)
2 tsps jeera
3 sticks cinnamon
2 tbsp butter
1 big onion (sliced)
1/4 cup milk
2 tsps garlic(finely chopped)
Wash palak, put it in a pot,add salt and water, boil until just soft. Keep aside.
Heat 1 tbsp butter in a another pot, add jeera, garlic, cinnamon, green chillies, and onions, braise till garlic and onions turn golden brown. Put this in grinder with boiled palak (dont throw away the water in which the palak is boiled, you can use it for grinding or cooking). Grind into smooth paste.
Heat the remaining butter in a pot, add palak and paneer cubes, reduce the heat and cook for 15 mins.
Add milk, and cook again for 10 mins till thick.
Serve with jeera rice or parathas.
Contributed by Neeta R. Pathak,Mumbai.
Tuesday, 23 September 2008
Patodi or Rasaaje
1 cup besan
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
salt to taste
How to make Patodi
1.Take besan and add chily,salt and tumeric powder.Mix well.
2.Add water and blend to make smooth batter.
3.Place in a shallow metal pan and steam it for 15 minutes in a large vessel.(same like Dhokla).
4.After 15 mins let it cool for a while and
cut it into rectangur pieces.
5.Patodis are ready.
Ingredients For Gravy
2 big onions
10 garlic pieces
2 tbsp grated dry coconut
2 tbsp GARLIC ONION MASALA(optional)
2 tsp red chilly powder
3 tsp ginger garlic paste
2 tsp GODA MASALA.
1 tsp musterd seeds
1 tsp jeera
5 tsp oil
2 tbsp curd
How to make Patodi Gravy
1.Take 1 tsp oil in a pan add onions and garlic(roughly cut into vertical pieces).
2.stirr well till become golden in color.
3.Remove from stove.
4.Take grated coconut in a pan and stir untill it becomes golden brown.
5.Blend Onion,Garlic and Coconut together to make a smooth paste.
6.Take 3 tsp oil in a pan.Put musterd seeds and jeera.
7.Add the ginger-onion paste stir well.
8.Add ginger garlic paste ,Goda Masala and red chilly powder or GARLIC ONION MASALA.
9. Mix well.And stir untill it starts leaveing oil.
10. Put 1 glass of water and salt to taste.Cover with a lid let it boil.
11. Remove the lid after 5 mins add 2 tbsp curd.And cover the lid to boil again.
12. Remove after 15 mins.The gravy should be thin enough.
13. Add the patodis in it and heat before serving.
14. Serve with chapatis.
Goda Masala recipe
5 Cardamom (Elaichi)
1/2 inch stick Cinnamon (Tuj/Dalchini)
5 Cloves (Lavang)
2 Bay Leaf (Tej Patta)
1 tsp Oil
2 tsp White Sesame seeds (Til)
2 tsp Coriander seeds (Dhania)
4 tsp flaked Coconut (Nariyal)
10 Black Pepper corns (Kalimirchi)
5 Cassia Buds
How to make goda masala:
Remove the cardamom seeds from their husks.
Saute the cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and bay leaves in the oil until the cloves swell.Dry-Roast the rest of ingredients over a low heat until the coconut is dark brown.
Cool and grind with sautéed spices until fine.
Store in an air tight container.
Saturday, 20 September 2008
Raj Kachori
• 2 Cups rava
• 2 tbsp Maida
• 4 Potatoes
• 1 Cup curd
• 1/2 Cup soaked chana
• 10 Papadi
• 1 tsp Roasted cumin powder
• 1 tsp Red chilli powder
• 5 tbsps Tamarind chutney
• 1/2 Cup sev
How to make Raj Kachori:
• Boil potatoes and cut it into cubes.
• Boil the soaked channa
• Mix rava, maida, salt and red chilli powder well.
• Prepare dough.
• Roll out into rotis of equal size.
• Deep fry it.
• Make a hole in the centre fried kachoris.
• Fill with cubed potatoes, chana, papdi and curd.
• Spread red chilli powder, cumin seed powder, tamarind chutney and green chutney.
• Put sev on it.
• Raj Kachori is ready.
Dal - Bafle
Ingredients For Bafle:-
Wheat flour,
metha soda,
salt to taste.
Procedure :- Take wheat flour and add salt to taste, cumin, zawain, metha soda, and oil and mix well. Then prepare dough and roll it in a form of very thick chapati.Apply some oil on it with fingers and roll it.Make cutlet sized balls out of the dough. Heat water in vessel, and put these balls in the water. When all the balls are boiled, drain the water and cut the balls in triagular pieces.
Heat oil in a frying pan, and fry the balls until they turn golden brown. Then remove them, and bafle are ready.
Ingredients for daal:
1 cup Tooar daal
1 tbsp Chana daal
8 Garlic flakes
8 Curry leaves
2 Green Chillies
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp Turmeric Powder
1 tsp Red Chilly powder
1 pinch of Cumin seeds
1 pinch of Mustard seeds
1 Toamto chopped
2 tsp Turmerind paste diluted in water
Jaggery or Sugar to sweeten the taste
Salt to taste.
Procedure for Daal:-
1. Cook Toor dal.
2. Take some oil in a pan.Heat it and add cumin seeds and mustered seeds.
3. Add green chillies, curry leaves,garlic, red chilli powder,turmeric powder, garam masala and tomatoes.
4. Stir it well.
5. Add boiled toor dal and pour 4 cups of water.
6. Allow it to boil for 10 minutes.
7. Dal is ready.
8. Can also be served with gatte ki sabji and coriander chutney


text:
Point Venture, TX 78645
BACK ON MARKET! Financing fell through!Lake Travis views from your front porch! Great proximity to Point Venture Marina, Lago Vista eateries & schools. Home features a great floor plan w/ stunning double front french drs. Living area prewired for sound on both walls making arrangement options a breeze. Master suite. Large lot boasts mature flora & lots of driveway space for boat or RV. A few updates include; HVAC, porch restored, roof is <5 years old, exterior paint, landscaping.
Jeffrey Hill with Realty Austin
2018 Baronet Realty. All rights reserved. © Collaborative Home Search by RealSavvy
Based on information from the Austin Board of REALTORS® for the period through [see date below]. All listing information is deemed reliable but is not guaranteed and should be independently verified. The Austin Board of REALTORS®, ACTRIS and their affiliates provide the MLS and all content therein "AS IS" and without any warranty, express or implied. Listing information is provided exclusively for consumers' personal, non-commercial use and may not be used for any purpose other than to identify prospective properties consumers may be interested in purchasing


text:
Progressive Discipline Process
So get ready to experience the glorious part of implementing your progressive discipline process, which would be listening to all the ridiculous excuses that people will come up with. In the end we just hope that our policy is strong enough and carried out in a fair and equal manner as to not end up in an employment law suit! Maybe I should change that to not lose an employment law suit, since I am certain that at some point in time some idiot is going to sue you no matter what you do! Hows that for a positive outlook?
These are just a few to get you to start thinking about what is important you your workplace. As another example if you have company vehicles you may want to include using a company vehicle for personal business. In today's world we live on the computer so maybe a policy on viewing pornographic materials.
Use your progressive discipline process to effectively manage your business so that you can correct or eliminate problem employees. Make sure they your progressive discipline process is included in your employee handbook and given to every employee. Each employee should sign acknowledging that they have received a copy of your employee handbook.
Thank you for reviewing this article on a Progressive Discipline Process - Return to a Written Warning Letter


text:
links for 2009-07-07 07.07.09
Can artists save the world? (The Guardian)
"The last five years have seen an unprecedented flowering of eco-awareness and activism throughout the arts, at home and abroad. From giant multiplexes to 50-seat fringe venues, from sweaty stadiums to intimate galleries, artist are talking " and singing, and writing, and painting " about the planet's inexorable drift towards disaster."
Use Their Work Free? Artists Say No to Google (NYTimes.com)
"When Google representatives recently invited dozens of prominent artists to contribute work to be featured on its new Web browser, the company enthusiastically sold the idea as an opportunity to have artwork shown to millions."
(tags: google artist.fee exposure)
Its About Time (Frieze Foundation | Talks)
Chaired by Jennifer Allen (Writer and Critic), this discussion explored the recent emphasis on temporality in art exhibitions. While considering historical and philosophical precedents, the panel looked at how and why time has become a tool for curators, and questioned the political implications of such an approach "
(tags: audio art.theory Jennifer.Allen Carsten.Höller Elena.Filipovic Peter.Osborne temporality exhibitions exhibition.theory)
artistcommunitiesresearch's Bookmarks on Delicious
Many, many links to artist residencies, alternative schools and platforms, and funding sources.
(tags: art.school artist.residency artist.funding arts.funding)
What Jerry Saltz v. MoMA means for art in America (Modern Art Notes)
"When the ghetto is interested in talking with only the ghetto, how and why should anyone with a less specific interest in culture care about what we think is important? When art lovers talk only to those already in their circle, the circle will shrink."
(tags: audience art.criticism JErry.Saltz Tyler.Green MOMA Ann.Temkin gender.bias)
Author: Christopher Lynn, Executive Director
Category: Links


text:
PARAMUS, N.J. -- HSS orthopedic surgeon Dr. Roger Widmann answers questions about scoliosis in the third part of a five segment series.
My son was recently told that he will need surgery for his scoliosis as a young athlete and is concerned he won't be able to play soccer and baseball. Are his concerns warranted?
Historically, six months after posterior spinal fusion surgery, patients are cleared to return to sports. Due to a more stable surgical construct, patients can now play sports earlier, within three to four months, depending on a review of post-operative x-rays and a clinical exam.
My child has been given a back brace to treat her scoliosis. Any tips on how to get her to wear it?
Success in brace wear depends on commitment by the orthopedic surgeon, the orthotist, the family and the child. Sometimes, knowing that the brace is the only thing that can help control a curve and avoid needing surgery is enough motivation.
I suffered idiopathic scoliosis as a young girl and now have a daughter. Is this type of scoliosis genetic? Is any type of scoliosis hereditary?
Although the cause of idiopathic scoliosis is multifactorial, there does seem to be a significant genetic component. Adult individuals with idiopathic scoliosis need to have their children checked for scoliosis during their childhood. Of the various types of scoliosis, only idiopathic scoliosis has a hereditary component.
Do more females suffer from scoliosis than males?
Idiopathic scoliosis is seen more commonly in females than males, at a ratio of 8:1.
My child was diagnosed with scoliosis and is currently wearing a back brace. How will her growth and development be affected?
There is no evidence to suggest that a brace for scoliosis will interfere with normal growth and development. There is some evidence that the growth of the curve will be slowed or arrested. In terms of physical growth, children with scoliosis lose a small amount of height due to the curvature of their spine. As the brace is worn to halt or slow the progression of the curvature, it helps to lessen the amount of growth loss from an increase in the curvature.
Dr. Roger Widmann is a pediatric orthopedic surgeon and the Chief of Pediatric Orthopedic Surgery at Hospital for Special Surgery. He practices at both the HSS Outpatient Center in Paramus and the hospital's main campus in New York.


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You may be cool but you'll never be as cool as the Isuzu Concept X
This 4x4 duo from The Land Down Under stole our attention.
This 4x4 duo from The Land Down Under stole our attention.
What could it be running under that massive hood?
From concept to a stunning production car, the Crown deserves its name.
Another steering wheel concept from the Blue Oval brand.
Pretty much as close as we can get to the concept Quattro Coupe. And we like it a lot.
The Duke and Duchess also drove the Jaguar E-Type Concept Zero.
Every drive can reflect your mood and satisfy the senses.
It is set to be Kia's flagship utility vehicle.
It will be unveiled at the 2018 New York International Auto Show later this month.
This four-door coupe screams elegance.
Remember dreaming about flying cars? They already have their hands on it.
The VIZIV concept is a pretty thing to look at, even in its wagon form.
Fully electric and fully autonomous
Hyundai showcases its Le Fil Rouge concept at the 88th Geneva International Motor Show.
It's confirmed – the Vmotion Concept is Nissan Altima's face for its sixth-generation model.
The future looks electric with Nissan's latest technology and vehicles at the 88th Geneva International Auto Show.
Lexus will unveil the UX compact crossover this March.
We never thought something fishy would be cool at this day and age.
Kia claims that all its models will be connected cars by 2030, including level 4 autonomous nameplates for smart cities.
Toyota is developing new ways technology in support of its vision of a seamless mobility ecosystem, along with a battery electric vehicle concept.