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New ‘clean water’ funding for Djibouti’s drought-stricken rural areas

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Wednesday, July 4, 2007

With the announcement Monday of €2 million in new funding from the European Union (EU), the Republic of Djibouti’s Ministry of Agriculture hopes to provide some relief to an estimated 25,000 rural inhabitants suffering through severe drought conditions. The money, to be channeled through UNICEF for its water and sanitation program, will be used to develop new wells and improve existing ones.

UNICEF is to contribute a further €60,000, as well as technical expertise to the Ministry of Agriculture, who will carry out the bulk of the work.

“The two-year water supply project targeting rural districts is very significant since people living in 45 villages and their 40,000 heads of cattle will have access to clean drinking water,” said Joaquin Gonzalez, EU Representative in Djibouti.

At the same time, the UN aid agency World Food Program (WFP) indicated that it is working with the Ministry of Agriculture and UNICEF to gradually shift Djibouti’s reliance on emergency aid to a Food for Work program, which it hopes will assist nomadic herders in Djibouti with long-term sustainability. “What we are trying to do together with the Ministry of Agriculture and UNICEF is, for example to dig wells so that despite drought, these herders will be able to irrigate their fields,” said Simon Pluess, WFP spokesman. “And, together with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, we will try and promote vegetable gardens.”

Djibouti has survived harsh drought conditions for the past 5 years. Groundwater is the primary source of water for drinking and irrigation, but has been difficult to exploit and is often contaminated. Almost 50 percent of people in rural Djibouti do not have ready access to properly developed source of drinking water. And, due to the ongoing drought, water availability for livestock is limited. Livestock have shown signs of distress and, subsequently, milk production is down substantially.

Nearly half of all families in Djibouti’s northwest were forced to migrate to find pasture for their livestock. As the droughts continue, the importance of properly maintained wells has become apparent. “Life is harder and harder for us. Years ago there were more rains and also more pastureland for cattle. Now it is good for us to have functioning wells so that we can keep cattle here,” said Anou Amada, farmer in the village of Andoli.

A 2006 survey indicated that only 15 percent of wells in Djibouti were equipped with a protective concrete wall to prevent contamination. Andoli’s well is one of many undergoing repair through WFP’s Food for Work project.

“WFP couldn’t do this alone, so we work with the Ministry of Agriculture and UNICEF to dig wells and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization for vegetable gardens,” said Benoit Thiry, Director, WFP in Djibouti.

When the project is completed in 2008, it will have increased Djibouti’s water pump capacity by adding 25 solar-power pumps, which would compliment the current 61 diesel-powered pumps. “The advantage of solar…is that it is much cheaper and requires less maintenance,” said Omar Habib, UNICEF communication specialist. “We want the people to participate and to appropriate these pumping stations. The government’s role in the long term should be as restricted as possible,” he added.

Oil

Do You Need To Use A Hair Conditioner And Hair Oil?}

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Do You Need to Use a Hair Conditioner and Hair Oil?

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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnsZOj0WYkA[/youtube]

Kristoff Webber

Hair is not just important for women, it is equally important for men too. Earlier, it was easy to walk into a store and pick products and walk out. Thanks to globalization, marketplace is loaded with products of all types and kind, making purchase complicated. We don’t know what’s required and what isn’t, in most cases. They say hair care products, then styling products, then styling care products and what not! But, what are essentials? You’re the best person to determine what you need, according to your liking or requirements.

For anyone, the products needed vary according to hair type and issues. For instance, healthy hair will need nothing more than oil, shampoo and a conditioner. But for curly hair, the necessity for taming products or nourishment products for damaged hair, are needed So, it is all about what your hair needs and what will suit it best.Regardless of your hair type, hair oil is a must. You can buy one that’s lighter if you don’t prefer a greasy look. But, you can never skip oil. In this modern era, most of us ignore oil and think it is old-fashioned or greasy. But, only oil can moisturize, nourish, repair and rejuvenate your hair. Before I take hair shower, I make sure to apply oil and leave it for around an hour. I apply light oil like Argan, after shower and my hair is dry. I apply it before heading out, so pores are still open and clean to receive the oil.Do you know a leave-in conditioner is my first personal choice of hair conditioner? Yes, it is gentle compared to wash-off conditioner and can also, nourish and shine my hair. A conditioner is good, as it could restore lost moisture and also give shine and sheen to hair that has lost its luster, due to styling or excessive use of chemical or heat. Furthermore, I make sure I use a gentle and natural shampoo, so I don’t remove my hair’s essential nutrients Did you know chemical shampoos can leave your hair dry and lifeless? Yes, since I wash my hair 2 – 3 times a week, I opt for a daily use shampoo. That’s milder than most. I have two combs, one for detangling that’s wide-toothed and one normal for combing. I rarely use a brush and don’t use hair dryer even if I don’t have time! I rarely use it without heat, when am out for occasion and use a protective product to avert hair damage I pick Argan based hair care products, because Argan oil is the best food for your hair. I love it for the amazing hair restorative and rejuvenation properties and it works well for my hair. When you stick to these basics, your hair will love you back and grow out long and strong. That’s what we women want right? Obviously, men can try these tips, albeit, with a few tweaks!

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a hair serum kit

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Article Source:

Do You Need to Use a Hair Conditioner and Hair Oil?}

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New study of endangered whale shark youth shows vital habitat similarities

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Sunday, June 10, 2018

In findings published on Friday in PeerJ, an open-access peer-reviewed scientific journal, researchers from the University of York and Maldives Whale Shark Research Programme have mapped key habitats of the world’s largest fish, the whale shark, shedding light on congregation sites that have perplexed marine biologists.

According to the researchers, Whale sharks, Rhincodon typus, listed as endangered under the IUCN Red List, do feed in the open ocean, but juveniles tend to form large groups in only about 20 to 25 specific places around the coasts of Mexico, Belize, the Maldives, and Australia, which previous research has not explained. The research team reviewed dozens of previous papers, compiled their findings into a database, and performed spatial analysis with the aggregate shark-related event data. Results showed the sharks’ frequented sites had areas of very shallow water near a steep drop-off into the depths, such as a shelf break or reef slope.

The whale shark can grow to eighteen metres (60 ft) in length. Unlike its better-known relatives, the Great white shark and other predatory sharks, the whale shark is a filter feeder, meaning that it draws water into its mouth and extracts small organisms from the liquid. They can search for food at the surface of the ocean but are also known to dive deep. According to supervising author Dr Bryce Stewart, PhD, “Sharks are ectotherms, which means they depend on external sources of body heat. Because they may dive down to feed at depths of more than 1900 metres, where the water temperature can be as cold as four degrees, they need somewhere close by to rest and get their body temperature back up. Steep slopes in the seabed also cause an upwelling of sea currents that stimulate plankton and small crustaceans such as krill that the whale sharks feed on.”

Such sites are also attractive to fishing and recreational boating, and collisions can injure sharks. Stewart emphasized the importance of using research to help preserve and protect the sharks, calling them, “extremely valuable to local people on the coastlines where they gather, which are often in developing countries. While a whale shark can be worth as much as $250,000 USD dead, alive it can provide more than $2 Million USD over the course of its life span.” The latter figure specifically estimates only ecotourism.

Uncategorized

New method of displaying time patented

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Saturday, October 14, 2006

An American inventor has patented a pair of new time formats with a footprint less than 50% of that of conventional four-digit time. The more unusual of the two new formats, called “TWELV”, dispenses with numerals altogether. In place of clock hands or digits, the new clock uses color to convey the hour and a moon image to convey the minute, which moon slowly grows throughout the course of an hour from a narrow crescent to a full-fledged circle.

The second and more approachable of the new formats retains numerical digits to indicate the minute but uses colors to convey the hour.

Early critics question whether the aesthetic benefits of the moon-clock will be sufficient to encourage users to learn the color-based time-telling system. However, the size advantages of the new system may make it particularly suitable for mobile applications, particularly cell phones, wearable computers, and head-mounted displays.

Cosmetic Surgery

Boost Memory With Chinese Club Moss And Huperzine A

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By Darrell Miller

Chinese club moss goes by the name Huperzia serrata, and gives its name to the sesquiterpene alkaloid it contains: huperzine A. This alkaloid has been found to be a superstar in the arena of brain-saving treatments for conditions such as Alzheimer’s and age-related senility. Studies in China have found up to 60% improvements in the cognitive functions of such patients, and its potential has been recorded in the Journal of the American Medical Association. This is no mere folk remedy, and is the subject of serious study.

Known as Qian Ceng Ta, Chinese club moss has been a part of traditional Chinese medicine for centuries for the treatment of fever and inflammation, which is not surprising considering that most plants contain antioxidants and anti-inflammatories. However, what is unusual is the fact that it has also been found effective in treating some forms of dementia and depression, and also helps to reduce the incidence of panic attacks in those susceptible to them.

Not only that, but the plant has been found to possess diuretic properties, and a reduction in the swelling associated with water retention could also help to reduce the pain and other effects of swelling and inflammation. However, for now it is its effect on the brain that we are concerned, and research has indicated the likely mechanism by which huperzine A works.

Huperzine is an enzyme inhibitor – specifically inhibiting the enzyme acetylcholinesterase that breaks down acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter involved in the processes of memory, learning and mood. Outside the brain, it is involved in the movement of skeletal muscle tissue as well as in the regulation of cardiac and other smooth muscles such as those of the blood vessels.

When acetylcholinesterase (AChE) attacks acetylcholine (ACh), the latter attaches to a chemical site on the enzyme where it is then destroyed. It is a deliberate function of the body, designed to terminate a synaptic transmission. The purpose of a neurotransmitter is to allow the transmission of an electrical impulse form one nerve cell to another over a gap between them known as a synapse. Once the transmission has been completed, the enzyme can destroy the neurotransmitter, and then another takes its place. In fact one molecule of AChE can destroy around 5,000 molecules of ACh.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEUSnt9DiIA[/youtube]

However, with age and for other reasons, these neurotransmitters can become depleted so that it becomes increasingly more difficult for brain cells to communicate with each other, and their destruction becomes undesirable. There are drugs available to help prevent this happening (e.g. donepezil, galantamine and tacrine), and so help to improve the memory and mental function of people as they grow older or contract conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease.

Huperzine A has been found to take up the site in the acetylcholinesterase molecule that would normally have been used by the acetylcholine, and so save it from destruction. The more Huperzine A molecules present, the more acetylcholine available to pass messages between brain cells, and the stronger the cognitive function of the subject or patient. The pharmaceutical drugs mentioned in the previous paragraph work in exactly the same way.

This is a very specific reaction, one molecule adopting exactly the same space as the other, and has been proved scientifically by comparing the physical shapes of the two molecules. It’s just like a jigsaw puzzle, where only one piece can fit into each position. Except here there are two: Huperzine A and acetylcholine both fit into the exact same place in the chemical structure of the acetylcholinesterase molecule.

The biochemistry of the reactions involved is very complex, and shall not be discussed here, but the upshot is that Huperzine A can do exactly the same job as modern drugs to avoid this hydroxylation of the ACh needed for the proper functioning of your brain.

In fact, clinical trials have indicated Huperzine A not only to be comparable in effect to the drugs current used, but also likely safer with respect to the possible side effects. This has still to be confirmed, but the National Institute on Aging is currently carrying out a trial to evaluate this claim in tandem with its effect on Alzheimer’s disease. It has also been examined at Harvard University for its effect on epilepsy on patients with whom alternative pharmaceutical treatments have been unsuccessful.

Another suggested benefit of Huperzine A is that it is an NMDA (N-methyl D-aspartate) receptor antagonist that provides protection against damage to the brain by an excess of glutamates, and that it can also help to protect nerve cells from damage. Since NDMA is responsible for the transmission of some types of pain, the antagonist can also act as an analgesic.

There are other benefits that Chinese club moss can provide, and myasthenia gravis is one of them. Although relatively rare, this is a serious condition in which acetylcholine receptors are deactivated on muscle cells. This is achieved through the autoimmune system malfunctioning and creating antibodies against the receptors, and the end result is paralysis and respiratory failure.

Huperzine A reduces the AChE available and so might possibly enable the acetylcholine to work more effectively and delay or even stop the deterioration of muscle function. When people hear of muscle paralysis they frequently forget that breathing requires muscle function, as indeed does your heartbeat. This is currently surmise, and studies are being carried out to determine whether or not this usage of Huperzine A is viable.

Another promising application of Chinese club moss extract is in preventing organophosphate poisoning. These pesticides permanently suppress acetylcholine. This results in seizures due to a lack of interruption of the signals from nerves to muscles. The seizures can result in rapid death from uncontrollable seizures, or from permanent contraction of the diaphragm muscle that allows breathing. Although no human studies have yet been carried out, animals given Huperzine A prior to organophosphate exposure have survived without seizures.

There are no doubts that Chinese club moss and the Huperzine A extracted from it are effective in preventing the suppression of acetylcholine, and in permitting the proper activity of this important neurotransmitter. It is finding an increasing number of potential uses beneficial to the human body, not the least of which would be a partial remedy for some of the effects of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

About the Author: More information on Chinese club moss

huperzine A

is available at VitaNet , LLC Health Food Store. http://vitanetonline.com/

Source:

isnare.com

Permanent Link:

isnare.com/?aid=328697&ca=Wellness%2C+Fitness+and+Diet

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Andrea Muizelaar on fashion, anorexia, and life after ‘Top Model’

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Monday, November 26, 2007

In the 18 months since Andrea Muizelaar was crowned winner of the reality TV series Canada’s Next Top Model, her life has been a complete whirlwind. From working in a dollar store in her hometown of Whitby, Ontario, to modeling haute couture in Toronto, she had reached her dream of becoming a true Top Model.

But at what cost? Unknown to casual television viewers, Muizelaar had been enveloped in the eating disorder anorexia nervosa, which inevitably became too much for her to bear. She gave up modeling and moved back to Whitby, where she sought treatment for her disorder, re-entered college, and now works at a bank. Where is she now? Happy and healthy, she says.

Recently Andrea Muizelaar sat down with Wikinews reporter Mike Halterman in a candid interview that stretched to nearly two hours, as she told all about her hopes and aspirations, her battle with anorexia, and just what really happened on Canada’s Next Top Model.

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Zara Kay tells Wikinews about her non-profit organisation Faithless Hijabi

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Monday, July 6, 2020

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Crafts

What Are The Different Types Of Crochet Hooks

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When you are doing a longer projects circular crochet hooks are widely used when compared to smaller ones. However, it also uses two or more colors of yarn or thread.

Generally , no matter what type of project you are doing there will be different ways for you to figure out your gauge for the hook size and exactlly what type of yarn style that you would like to use. Another type of hooks is called the double point needles ,they are available in a variety of beutiful different types of woods such as Rosewood, Ebony, Bamboo, other woods.

These hooks were producted in Germany from scrap wood salvaged from a piano manufacturer, these crochet hooks are just gorgeous. They are wonderful to work with. There is another style of crochet hooks which made for the middle-class market. The needles were made of steel and the handles were made of iron wire and then they were painted black to prevent rust.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKHLEquvqoU[/youtube]

There is still another type of hooks that come with a hook on both the top as well as the bottom.! Yes they are for what’s called “cro-hooking”, “cro-knit” or more recently “crochet-on-the-double”. These double ended crochet hooks are just perfect for picking up stitches. You have quite a bit of size to work with here with he double ends The middle sections of the double hooked crochet hooks are turned on a lathe. They are done in different shapes. The tip portion is made of horn.

Typical materials for crochet hooks wood, plastic, casein , or aluminum. Historical examples also include bone, steel, porcupine quill, celluloid, agate, ivory, and fossilized mammoth ivory.

There are steel, plastic, aluminum, wood and even bone hooks. For different types there are different pluses and minuses, but the real reason you should choose a type is because it feels good to you. Another common style is to hold the hooks like a pencil. Again, the large diameter of the handle lets her hold the hook loosely with less bending of the fingers.

Crochet hooks range in size from 2-16 mm and have different sizing systems, not only between the US and Britain, but also between various manufacturers. Extra care is needed when choosing crochet hooks because some systems have the lowest sizes corresponding to the largest diameter, while other systems have the lowest sizes corresponding to the smallest diameter.. These are colorful clear, glass-like, plastic hooks.

The hook portion is finely sculpted to a form designed. The deep rounded gullet and gentle curves are designed for smooth operation. Some people use the wooden single crochet hooks only as a collectors item now. They come in a wide variety of designs and craftsmanship and some can be actually quite decorative.

An inline hook is designed so the hook end is exactly in line with the shaft, and the hook on the end of the shaft is more flat. If you’re new to crocheting, experiment with all the hooks available to see which is most comfortable for you. There is a factory that is specialized in producing series of pins included crochet hook.

Article Source: sooperarticles.com/hobbies-articles/craft-articles/what-different-types-crochet-hooks-12183.html

About Author:

We plan to post more articles about crocheting. We want to help the newbie in this craft to get started. Check our site for more information howtocrochetguide.comAuthor: Doris Canova

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CanadaVOTES: Christian Heritage Party leader Ron Gray running in Langley

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Friday, September 19, 2008

On October 14, 2008, Canadians will be heading to the polls for the federal election. Christian Heritage Party candidate Ron Gray is standing for election in the riding of Langley.

Wikinews contacted Ron Gray, to talk about the issues facing Canadians, and what they and their party would do to address them. Wikinews is in the process of contacting every candidate, in every riding across the country, no matter their political stripe. All interviews are conducted over e-mail, and interviews are published unedited, allowing candidates to impart their full message to our readers, uninterrupted.

Mr. Gray has been leader of the Christian Heritage Party since 1995. He first ran for office in 1988.