What Is It Good For? The Blood Sucking Mosquito

Biology, Medicine
[caption id="attachment_18353" align="alignright" width="480"] Gorged with blood[/caption] It's night time. You nuzzle up to your pillow, leaving one ear exposed. Suddenly, disrupting the silence, you hear the kind of music you don't want to hear! The music of the blood-sucking mosquito. Although we continue to grow in knowledge with the passage of time, do we know enough to say the blood sucking mosquito serves a good and useful purpose? We'll present more than one example of how the answer is, Yes! Blood Sucking Mosquito as Food Most of us realize mosquitoes serve as food for many birds. Ever seen bats, at dusk, circling around dipping and diving? You can be sure that a sizeable number of the "bugs" it is eating are mosquitoes. But we would be mistaken if we…
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Sulforaphane in Shepherd’s Purse: Anti-inflammatory, Anti-bacterial

Medicine, Plants
[caption id="attachment_16649" align="alignright" width="480"] The shepherd's purse or poor man's pepper.[/caption] In 2014, the Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology reported the results of a study on the anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial properties of shepherd’s purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris). The study spotlighted two compounds formed from the interaction of two other compounds found within the plant, glucoraphanin (a glucosinolate) and the enzyme myrosinase. When these two substances contact each other, they produce raphanin and sulforaphane. It is the sulforaphane (1-isothiocyanato-4-methylsulfinylbutane) that particularly displays the desired properties. Shepherd’s purse is not alone in producing this interesting substance. Others in the same family (Brassica) include broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels’ sprouts, kale, and collard greens. The most common way glucoraphanin and myrosinase are brought together to produce our anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial is by chewing! [caption…
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Bird’s Eye or Persian Speedwell (Veronica persica)

Medicine, Plants
Birdseye Speedwell, also known as Persian Speedwell (Veronica persica), is a little blue, unobtrusive yet attractive blue flower with a white center. It has darker blue parallel markings from the center to the tips of each petal. The reason these beautiful flowers tend to go unnoticed is their diminutive size. They grow as weeds in your lawn. Get Acquainted with Veronica There are descriptive details for the Speedwell provided on line—its structure, growth habits, even its eradication—but little is spoken of its proven usefulness or its chemistry. Legend (if you will) has it that the little blue-and-white flower is helpful in treating a plethora of ailments, but especially in relaxing tense muscles in the neck and shoulder area and in treating skin rashes. Rich in Glycosides [caption id="attachment_16381" align="alignright" width="230"]…
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Mistletoe Tree Parasite – the Beautiful Herb of Wintertime

Biology, Medicine
[caption id="attachment_15887" align="alignright" width="440"] A single clump of mistletoe tree parasite.[/caption] If runners develop athlete’s foot, what do rocket scientists develop? –Mistletoe. So goes a bad joke. Most people are familiar with the use of the mistletoe tree parasite in holiday celebrations. The history behind such use is readily available online. But just what is mistletoe? How does it grow? And what is mistletoe good for? Let’s check it out. Mistletoe Tree Parasite There are many varieties of mistletoe. They grow as independent globular clusters in tree branches and some shrubs. As a result, mistletoe in trees becomes most visible in cold weather, when leaves fall.  Although the plants largely subsist on nutrients produced by the host plant, mistletoe does produce some of its own food via photosynthesis. So officially…
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Cyanides How Toxic Are They? Are All Cyanides Deadly?

Chemistry, Medicine
Potassium and sodium cyanides are iconic poisons. Murder mystery movies frequently feature one of these two substances as the cause of death. Their chemical formulas may be written more than one way. Most simplistically, they are KCN and NaCN. K stands for potassium (kalium), and Na stands for sodium (natrium). C is for carbon. N is for nitrogen. Another way of writing the chemical formulas of these substances is, K–C≡N and Na–C≡N. Both of these chemical compounds dissolve in water. This makes them especially dangerous, since if consumed, they can enter the bloodstream and travel to all of the bodies’ cells. KCN → K+ + CN- NaCN → Na+ + CN- Cyanides How Toxic? Organic Nitriles Organic nitriles are a kind of cyanide. For instance, acetonitrile is written, CH3CN But…
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Rigor Mortis – Not a Lucky Stiff

Chemistry, Medicine
When a person or animal dies, it doesn’t take long before the body grows cold and stiff. Cold makes obvious sense, but why stiff? Why does rigor mortis [Latin for stiffness of death] set in? Chemistry of Rigor Mortis Rigor mortis results from chemical changes within the muscles - it’s body chemistry. The chemical enabling muscle flexing is ATP (adenosine triphosphate). When breathing ceases, breathing ceases. Lack of oxygen severely diminishes ATP production. If the individual dies, the body begins cooling right away, but muscle stiffening does not set in immediately. [caption id="attachment_14541" align="alignright" width="280"] Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP)[/caption] Before R. M. – a Second ATP Production Process There is a secondary process for producing ATP. It involves anaerobic glycolysis, the breakdown of glucose into lactic acid. Simply written, it is…
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Comparing Hemoglobin and Chlorophyll

Biology, Medicine
[caption id="attachment_7766" align="alignright" width="440"] Hemoglobin tetramer ribbon CC-by-SA3.0 Zephyris[/caption] Are there similarities between the plant and animal world, for instance, between hemoglobin and chlorophyll? In nature, one can expect many parallels. Many animals have four feet. There are apes, lions, camels, and tortoises. Are all these related? Not really. Again, nearly all animals have two eyes in their head. Is there significance beyond the fact that this enables stereoscopic vision along an excellent line-of-sight? And so we come to the two substances most closely associated with life processes: the chlorophyll of plant life and the hemoglobin of animal life. Chlorophyll produces the food plants need for survival. Hemoglobin carries nutrients and oxygen essential to animal life. Although animals and plants are different, there are interesting parallels to be seen in…
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Acromegaly Can Turn into Diabetes – How?

Medicine
[caption id="attachment_5844" align="alignright" width="480"] Injectable Insulin[/caption] About the summer of 2009, I was diagnosed with acromegaly. Acromegaly is a relatively rare disorder of the pituitary gland that, especially among prepubescent sufferers, results in abnormal growth—most notably in height. For this reason, the condition is sometimes called Gigantism. I, on the other hand, apparently contracted the beast at a more advanced age, and so it affected me in other ways. Ah, the Golden Years One of the unfortunate features is growth of a different sort—growth of the ears, lower jaw, and other facial bones, thickening of the skull, and increase in the size of the hands (most notably the palms) and the feet. In particular, my ankles swelled up due to cartilage growth. My sight was affected in the form of…
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Watch Out! The Brown Recluse Spider

Biology, Medicine
The brown recluse spider (Loxosceles reclusa) is small and deadly. Sometimes called the brown spider, the brown recluse is usually found out of doors in dark places. It sometimes finds its way indoors. When that is so, it hides in closets, folded clothing, shoes, and indeed, any dark place it finds. It may even hid behind the back board of a bed! Although not aggressive by nature, if pressed against human skin, it will bite. This tiny spider produces a bite that at first may appear as a red target shape circle that changes color, eventually killing skin tissue. It may progress to produce massive organ failure, even death. Brown recluse venom includes sphingomyelinase-D. There is a treatment procedure that many animal lovers will find saddening. Brown Recluse Spider Bites…
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Pituitary Gigantism and Acromegaly

Health, Medicine
[caption id="attachment_3690" align="alignright" width="380"] Pio Pico (1858) Mexican Governor of California[/caption] The pituitary gland is very small. It produces or regulates many hormones. It is located in the center of the head. Shaped like a garlic clove that hangs by a thread, there is a very small space surrounding it. The pituitary often forms tumors. Happily, rarely cancerous. Tumor Effects Some pituitary tumors affect production of the hormone prolactin. Prolactin promotes lactation (milk production). Another tumor type results in a growth hormone excess. In this case, the outcome is age dependent. Before puberty, one grows considerably taller (gigantism). Pituitary Problems Before / After Puberty Older sufferers do not undergo much vertical growth. They do not become giants. Still, some abnormal bone growth will occur. This is called acromegaly. The video…
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