Saturday, February 25, 2017

Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome


Acute respiratory distress syndrome is caused pulmonary edema that becomes protein rich. It causes severe hypoxemia and an impaired carbon dioxide excretion. The clinical disorders that are associated with ARDS include • Sepsis • Pneumonia • Aspiration of gastric contents • Major trauma The lung injury is caused mainly by neutrophils-dependent and platelet-dependent damage to the endothelial and epithelial barriers of the lung. Resolution is delayed because of the injury to the lung epithelial barrier that prevents removal of alveolar edema fluid and deprives the lung of adequate facilities of surfactant. Lymphocytes play an important role in the resolution of the lung injury. With a lung protective ventilatory strategy, mortality is considerably reduced. Pathological Findings In the acute phase of ARDS which lasts in the first week, there is evidence of interstitial and alveolar edema with accumulation of neutrophils, macrophages and red blood cells in the alveoli. There is also evidence of both endothelial and epithelial injury. In the sub-acute phase that lasts during the second week of the syndrome, some of the edema is reabsorbed and there is evidence of attempts at repair with proliferation of alveolar epithelial type II cells. There may also be infiltration of fibroblasts and some evidence of collagen deposition. In the chronic phase after a couple of weeks, there is resolution of acute neutrophilic infiltrate with more mononuclear cells and alveolar macrophages in the alveoli. In many patients, resolution progresses without fibrosis and simply with gradual resolution of the edema and acute inflammation.

Book a Cruise to the Norwegian Fjords


Norway does not come to your mind immediately when there is a mention of cruises. Yet, the fjords of Norway, its fingers, have fishing villages that are picture perfect with some dramatic waterfalls. All nature lovers would like to book a cruise to the Norwegian fjords as these deep water bodies are a perfect way to relieve your anxieties and stress. These fjords are carved inlet glaciers that come into the western coastline of Norway. The Norwegian mountains are rising steeply to each side of the coast with waterfalls that cascade. The towns by the waterside are pretty. It is a lovely feeling to explore these fjords in a cruise ship that can enter deep. The larger ships will not be able to do that. The small cruise ships can also drop anchor close to the shores. Many tourists prefer to visit the fjords on a midsized vessel. In addition to the fjords, other highlights of the cruise are the Grieg Museum at Bergen, Mount Dalsnibba at Geiranger, Hellesylt Waterfall at Hellesylt, Arctic Cathedral at Tromso and the Art Nouveau District at Aalesund. Some of the popular cruise operators to the Norwegian fjords are Mundy Cruising, Fred Olsen Line, Hurtigruten Tours, Crystal Cruises, Azamara Cruises, Holland America Line and Oceania Cruises. The Norwegian fjords are well known for their breathtaking landscape. This has come about due to the mighty glaciers cutting in to the coastline over thousands of years. The region is characterized by overhanging cliffs, exciting waterfalls and rock walls. Working ships are operated to cruise the entire length of the Norwegian coast. The duration of the cruise is mostly twelve days. It starts from Bergen and ends at Kirkenes. The main focus of this cruise is to see the landscape which is spectacular. The ports of call are up and down the coastline of Norway. The highlight of the cruise is Bergen, the old capital city of Norway. It is the birthplace of the famous Norwegian composer, Edvard Grieg. You will also be reminded of the great film, `Song of Norway’ when you visit Bergen which has both Renaissance and Mediaeval buildings. The natural splendour of this region exceeds all other sights. Bergen has a historic hanseatic port. The Hanseatic League was formed to protect the economic privileges in the cities along the trade routes spreading from the Baltic to the North Sea. This city was founded by King Olav Kyrre in 1070. The first capital of Norway was Trondheim. Bergen became its capital in 1217 and remained for the next eighty seven years when Oslo became the capital in 1300. The primary reason for the importance and growth of Bergen as a city has been due to the dried cod trade from the northern coast. Bergen is surrounded by seven mountains. Mount Ulriken is the highest mountain at seven hundred meters above sea level. For lovers of music, the cruise operators do include a visit to Edvard Grieg’s house in Bergen which is later followed by a pianoforte concert at a lakeside. The house has become a museum and it is full of scores of music sheets and information on Grieg’s life. He is also buried in the vicinity of the house. Geirangerfjord and Naeroyfjord are both popular and have been declared as World Heritage Sites by UNESCO. These fjord cruises are mainly operated during summer between June and August when the climate is warm after the winter snow has melted and you will be able to see the rolling green hills. The weather is warm in July and August when the daylight hours are the longest. Naeroyfjord is regarded as the queen of the fjords. It is situated in the south east of Bergen. It is totally surrounded by mountains and marvellous glaciers. There are many fjord villages with their orchards. Geirangerfjord has many waterfalls and farm hills. There is a well known golden route mountainous road with the sharp Trollstigen road with hairpin bends offering a breathtaking view of the fjord. The Geirangerfjord has a lovely mountainous backdrop and a `Seven Sisters’ waterfall. The fjord is sixty two miles in length. Sognefjord is the longest navigable fjord in the world. It is surrounded by high hills and steep waterfalls. Some voyages have an option to conclude at Copenhagen or Stockholm instead of Kirkenes. The port of Kirkenes is turning out to be an important one for vessels that are conducting seismic explorations in the Arctic. This northern Norwegian town is close to the gas and oil fields. You will not forget your holiday amidst the Norwegian fjords with their unique sights. Norwegian fjords are one of the greatest cruise destinations in the world.

Benefits Provided by Waste Management Solutions


What is waste management? It involves collection, processing, disposal and monitoring of waste materials. Material gets wasted on and after use through human activity. Management of waste becomes essential to reduce the ill effects of waste material on human health as well as the health of the environment. Waste management solutions can vary for both developed as well as developing nations. They can vary for urban and rural regions. There is difference between the disposal practices for residential and industrial sectors. Local government authorities manage the non-hazardous residential and institutional waste in metropolitan regions. The responsibility for hazardous waste and industrial or commercial waste falls on national and international controls. Waste can be defined as unusable material that is discarded by residential, commercial and industrial users. Waste can be slotted into several categories. It could be household waste, kitchen waste, discarded and degraded waste, commercial waste and hazardous waste. These categories could overlap. Household waste could be of a hazardous nature. For example, unwanted products that are of a corrosive, flammable or reactive nature are types of household hazardous waste. Waste management strategies involve reducing, reusing or recycling the waste. Landfills are probably the major disposal channels for all types of wastes in the United Kingdom. They will be responsible for over eighty per cent of the waste streaming in the country. Waste materials are piled up in an abandoned places like the borrow pits, mining voids or the quarries. The material is then buried for disposal with time. If the landfill is managed well, it can turn out to be a hygienic and less costly channel of waste disposal. The biggest benefit of waste management is that it aims to reduce pollution in the environment. If waste is discarded without discipline and mindlessly, it can pollute air and water and pile up severe negative effects on the environment as well as the health of the people. It is essential for people to be conscious about the way they handle commercial waste or hazardous waste in their house or at the place of work. The responsibility of safe and proper waste disposal should begin with residential and business owners.

Dangerous Drivers will face Higher Insurance Premiums


People who have been involved in accidents with red cards accumulated from the police authorities by way of penalty points may find the going tough for them as they will be categorized as high-risk drivers. They will face high insurance premiums. Even young drivers without much driving experience are likely to pay higher premiums. The traffic statistics suggest that this driver segment may be more accident prone. Dangerous drivers will be paying more in insurance premiums in the future besides being penalized by the usual fines. The premiums are based on the standard car models and the depreciated value of the vehicle. The standard cost of insuring a car can vary between five to eight per cent of the car’s value. Premiums are worked out on the basis of several factors to make sure that they reflect the individual risk situation correctly. How much a car owner will pay probably depends on the credit record that he or she has. It is also going to depend on where he or she parks the car overnight and whether the car is liable to be vandalized or be prone to thievery. The insurance market in the western countries is a little more advanced than the eastern countries in its premium structure. In the United States of America, the rating is based on the car owner’s individual profile and the car make or its model is not the only influencing factor in working out the insurance premium on a comprehensive basis. In the last few years, few insurance companies have begun to look into an advanced approach by taking into account extraneous actuarial risk factors that can have an impact on costs and those include the claims experience and the history of the car and its owner. Many multi-national insurance companies have made alterations in the premium rating structure and as the years go by, the premiums are going to be based less on the type and value of the car. There is another aspect to the consensus that safe drivers should not be penalized with high premiums to compensate for the negligent ones so that the drivers will be motivated to develop safer driving habits. The actual premium is going to depend on the car owner’s history of driving and it will also consider no claims discounts and the profile of the vehicle. The pricing model of the insurers is also going to take into account the country where the initial driving licence was obtained in. Options will be offered for agency repairs, off-road coverage and new replacements. There is a general feeling that average priced cars are much affordable to insure than the fancier luxury cars. The minimum insurance cover required by law is the third party liability with coverage or damage to others’ vehicle or towards bodily injury treatment or death of the aggrieved party. However, the third party liability will not allow people to avail of crucial benefits like a personal accident policy on self or damage repairs to your car. The policy will not cover the driver or the occupants of the car. At the time of renewing the insurance policy, a good way to get a discount is to prove that you follow safe driving rules and that there have been no claims in the previous years.

Sunday, February 12, 2017

Basics of Options Trading


Portfolios today include investments that are mostly stocks, bonds and mutual funds. There are securities such as options that also offer investors a whole world of opportunity to expand their investment portfolios. Their power lies in their being versatile. They allow investors to adapt and adjust their position based on any situation that may arise in the financial market. What is an option? An option is a kind of a contract that will give a buyer the right to buy or sell a particular underlying asset at a specified price but it cannot be treated as an obligation on or before a specified date. As in the case of a bond or a stock, an option becomes a security. Calls and Puts The two kinds of options available are puts and calls. A put will give the holder a right to sell a particular asset at a specified price within a fixed period of time. A put is similar to maintaining a short position on a particular stock. A buyer of a put will hope that the price of that stock will go down before the option gets expired. A call will give a holder the right to purchase an asset at a fixed price within a time period that is specified. A call is similar to maintaining a long position on a particular stock. A purchaser of a call will hope that the stock will go up considerably before the option gets expired. There are four kinds of participants in the markets of options based on the position that is taken. They are buyers and sellers and pits and there are buyers and sellers of calls. Those who purchase options are known as holders and those who sell these options are known as writers. Buyers have long positions and sellers have short positions. Strike Price The price at which a particular underlying stock is bought or sold is known as the `strike price’. This is the price that a stock has to go above in the case of calls or go below in the case of puts before a position could be exercised for making profits. All this has to take place before the date of the expiry of options. The option is supposed to be `in-the-money’ for call options if the share price is above this strike price. A put option will be `in-the-money’ if the share price goes below the strike price. The amount by which options are `in-the-money’ is generally known as their intrinsic value. The total price of an option is known as its premium. This price is established by factors that include the strike price, the stock price, volatility and the time that remains until the time value or expiration. Reasons for investing in Options There are two primary reasons why investors use options. They are speculation and hedging. Speculation could be treated as betting on the movement a security will take. The advantage of using options is that investors are not limited to making profits only when the market tends to go up. On account of their versatility, investors can also make profits when the market tends to go down or sideways. Success comes when investors are able to predict correctly whether a stock is likely to go up or down and they have to be correct about the change in pricing and also with the time frame it will take for all this to take place. Speculation also uses leverage. Hedging could be thought of in the same way as you would look mat an insurance policy. Options are used to insure the investments against downturns much in the same way as you would insure your car or a house.

Bombay and how it looked a Centenary ago


Erstwhile, ‘Bombay’, 100 years ago was beautifully built by the British where the charm of its imagery and landscape was known to baffle all. The look and feel of the city was exclusively reserved for those who lived in that era and those who used to breathe an unassuming air which culminated to form the quintessential ‘old world charisma’. World Luxury Council (India) is showcasing, ‘never seen before’Collectors’Edition of 100 year old archival prints on canvas through a Vintage Art Exhibit. The beauty of the archival prints is that they are created with special ink which lasts for 100 years, thus not allowing the colors to fade. The idea is to elicit an unexplored era through paradoxically beautiful images of today’s maximum city and present it to an audience who would have only envisioned Bombay 100 years ago, through the eyes of their forefathers. The splendid collection would be an absolute treat for people to witness and make part of their ‘vintage art’memorabilia.

Analysis of Correspondences by Baudelaire


This poem by Baudelaire is addressing communication between the metaphysical world and nature. It also scratches on the surface of symbolism between self and others. When you read it at first, it may seem confusing as a result of the conflicting presence of corruption and triumph. Baudelaire discloses the connection between metaphysical world and nature with direct reference to the concept of Swedenborg. Emanuel Swedenborg was a Swedish scientist and a mystic. He is famous for his Neuron Concept as well as for his interpretation of dreams. He experienced several kinds of dreams and visions; some were pleasant and others disturbing. He recorded his experiences in Regnum Animale and his Journal of Dreams and when you read these works, like Baudelaire, you will immediately feel the battle between the love of self and the love of God. Baudelaire, like Swedenborg, had a condition called Synaesthesia where the brain mingles the sensory perceptions. The colours, sounds and scents get all mixed up. They are bundled together to generate mental images. The senses are sometimes stimulated through the mind’s eyes. Baudelaire is transferring the French symbolism of art and nature on to the reader. For example, in the lines such as “corrupted, rich, triumphant, full; perfumes, colours, sound; Frankincense, musk, ambergris, Benjamin”, Baudelaire is using the rhetorical device of `asyndeton’ for pulling off the dramatic effect. It suggests the infinite list of sensory experiences that the reader can relate to. These ongoing lists are metaphorical and they connect the senses to oneself. These lines also reflect parallelism where all worlds get related to the meaning of the poem as a whole and to the symbolism behind it. The sensory experience also gets connected to the metaphysical significance. Hypo-zeugma can be identified in technical literary terms in the line with “perfumes, colours, sounds”. They correspond with each other and these perceptions are developed throughout the entire poem with interrelated examples. This is a poem about the unity of nature and human perceptions about multiple worlds. You can become aware of such unity at some rare moments in the poem. This happens when you lose the ordinary state of mind and when you no longer separate yourself from your surroundings. Ecstasy is derived when you stand outside yourself in a trancelike state. This altered state of consciousness is not induced from within and not by any superfluous induced state through hallucinogenic drugs. Baudelaire was very fond of works by Thomas De Quincy and Edgar Allan Poe because of their dreamlike stories and poems. It is important for you to know that Baudelaire was also fond of hashish and marijuana. He achieved those hallucinogenic states for the sake of writing. He was also influenced by Emanuel Swedenborg’s mystical writings by emphasising on the oneness of the devotees to attain unity with God. The antithesis is present in the poem with the contrast of `corrupted’ yet `triumphant’ senses and the `confused speech’ of the columns; it may be difficult to understand by few readers while others can crack the meanings behind the lines. Singing the `rapture of the soul’ relates to the sensory experience of humans. The `grove of symbols’ that is being walked through life is a metaphor for connection between all things external to oneself. Everything that man experiences and perceives is a gateway to the soul. The key is to observe everything and realise the connection between them. The `temple of nature’ and the `grove of symbols’ in which man walks is seen metaphorically to the relation of the body (temple which houses the soul) to what surrounds it. The use of Literary technique `chiaroscuro’ is seen when the unity of the profound and shadowy echoes is used - as `vast as the night, as sunlight’s clarity’, comparing day and night to the merging of senses. Synaesthesia is being used throughout the poem with `long echoes’ and `living columns’ that breathe `confusing speech’ with `perfumes, colours and sounds’ corresponding with `odours’ that are `fresh as a baby’s skin’; with `green meadows’ and mellow oboes’ (oboes are a wind and reed instruments like shehnai). To conclude, Baudelaire’s poem is a symbolic representation of the connection of self to its surroundings with the constant use of metaphors and esoteric language. It is an adequate reflection of rhetorical devices, poetic chiaroscuro and synaesthesia to take the reader through a journey into nature’s correspondences with human consciousness.

Thursday, February 9, 2017

Worshipping your Creator makes you Pious


The Holy Quran directs mankind in Surah 2 and Verse 21 to worship the Lord who created man and all those who were before you so that you may become pious. When you hear the Azaan and the call to prayer, it is an act that you dutifully obey by worshipping Allah. You are fulfilling your duties not only by praying five times in a day but fasting during the holy month of Ramazan and sharing a fraction of your wealth with the poor and the needy. By doing these acts, you are worshipping your Creator as you are fulfilling your oath to Him. All these acts are regarded as the foundations for practice of faith. They are known as the `Arkanul Islam’. Devotion to Allah extends beyond these basic deeds in faith. Worship of Allah will consist of everything that a person does or says towards the pleasure of Allah. It could be to abide by the necessary rituals or to live by the example of the Holy Prophet Muhammad. Following the Holy Prophet perfects your Akhlaq (your behavior). Allah has created us to worship Him and has laid the religion of Islam for us by making it a complete way of life with recommendations and tenets that may help us govern our physical, emotional, social and spiritual lives. The way of life is clearly outlined in the Holy Quran. By practicing good deeds in addition to worship, you can achieve a constant state of devotion to Allah and this is an ideal which is not impossible to achieve. When people are faced with heavy demands at work, school or in family affairs, you may wonder as to how we can engage in the ongoing act of devotion. The answer to this doubt lies in a phrase that helps people by making everything possible - where there is a will, there is a way. If you have the pure intention, it will elevate your deeds from an act of pure habit to divine worship. The Holy prophet Muhammad has laid a stress on the importance of intentions. He has asked people to judge their actions by their intentions and has promised his Ummah that every person will be rewarded according to his or her intentions, as mentioned in one of the hadith in Al Bukhari. The Holy Quran and the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet have set out clearly defined manners and morals that can help people in achieving a constant state of worship. All these acts have the potential to draw us nearer to our Creator: • Cleanliness and grooming. • Modesty in behavior and dressing. • Pursuit of knowledge. • Respecting elders and exchanging of gifts. • Kindness shown to animals. • Expression of gratitude.

Why is morphine contraindicated in case of a head injury?


Morphine is contraindicated in cases of head injuries due to three reasons:- 1. It retains carbon dioxide and increases inflammation of connective tissue (ICT) 2. Therapeutic doses of morphine could cause respiratory depression 3. It interferes with assessment of head injury by inducing vomiting, miosis and altered mentation Morphine should not be given also to patients who suffer with chronic asthma or pulmonary disorders and those who have upper airway obstruction. In cases of head injury morphine could be highly dangerous as it can cause intra cranial pressure, tonsillar herniation and could be fatal.

Classic Indian Games and their Advantages


Children would rather do chores, read, do homework or watch television than go and play outside. A survey has revealed that kids spend not even five hours during a week and less than four hours collectively on weekends. As parents, we have to do our utmost to encourage the spirit of adventure and build imaginative opportunities for the children to get outdoors. The classic Indian games will give us a great opportunity in motivating them to go out and take part in them. Encouraging Kids to go out, enjoy and experience Life As parents, our busy lifestyle makes us feels satisfied when we entertain our kids with electronic gadgets like television or tablets. We fail to realise that each child has to play outdoors for his or her physical well-being and emotional happiness. Getting dirty outdoors is much healthier than staying inside and playing with gizmos. With a commodity like Surf Excel at home, there is nothing to fuss about even when your kids get their clothes messy. Recently, a report was published by the National Wildlife Federation stating when you let your kids get dirty outdoors, it is quite encouraging for their health when compared to allowing them to spend their time indoors with hi-tech gadgets. It makes them totally vulnerable to deficiency of Vitamin D and brings on depression and other chronic obesity related ailments. Playing these Classic Indian Games and their Advantages Kite Flying Kite flying helps in the development of mental concentration. A child who flies kites frequently can do well in his or her studies and other school activities. This activity helps in retrieving physical and mental fatigue in a very short time. It generates energy within the body and adds vigour and interest. It is a great physical exercise for the arms, legs, neck, eyes and brain. It improves the eye sight as eye lids have to be moved continuously with the changing movements of the kite in the sky. When it is a clear sky, it also sharpens your eyesight when you hold the kite up in the sky against the windy conditions. It also brings in much happiness to the kite flier. It allows for intake of Vitamin D and fresh oxygen into the body. When oxygen is supplied to the heart and lungs, it makes these vital organs stronger. Kabbadi Indian classic Games for kids were designed in such a way that they could help their personality development along with their ability to think logically and building up strategy. They required stamina, mental and physical skills, quick reflexes and extraordinary hand, eye and leg coordination. Kabbadi is one such game in India. The clothes may get horribly dirty in the mud but Surf Excel will be the solution for them. Kho-Kho Kho-Kho is one of the most popular classic sports in India. It is actually a modified version of `Run Chase’. It involves simply touching a person and running while the person touched has to chase the other one down. Like all other Indian games, it demands high level of physical fitness, strength and speed. The game helps in development of qualities like discipline, sportsmanship and loyalty among the team members. Gilli Danda This game has many variations as an amateur sport for youth. The points that are scored by a striker depend on the actual distance that the gilli falls from the point of striking. It is a game that is played with a peg and a stick; it requires extraordinary hand and eye co-ordination. Chupa Chupi (Hide and Seek) This classic Indian game does not need any introduction or description. It is fun both indoors and outdoors. It has always remained as one of the most challenging outdoor games for kids. This game has been able to open up many learning centres in the young brains and has helped strengthen the cognitive and emotional development among children through playing activities.

The Son who emulated his Father in the Junior Lawn Tennis Grand Slam Championships


Ramesh Krishnan was born on 5th June 1961 in Chennai. He is the son of Ramanathan Krishnan who was probably India’s greatest tennis player who made a name for himself in the nineteen sixties. Ramesh Krishnan repeated his father’s achievement when he won the Wimbledon Junior Title in 1979. He also won the Boys’ Title at the French Open and became the top ranked junior player in the world. His career got a kick start with a tournament win in Ernakulam, Cochin. Ramesh Krishnan also reached three Grand Slam quarter finals in the nineteen eighties. He reached the quarter final of the U.S. Open in 1981. He reached the quarter final of Wimbledon in 1986 and the quarter of the U.S. Open again in 1987. Ramesh Krishnan was part of the Indian Davis Cup Team which reached the finals in 1987 and the semi finals in 1993. In 1987, in the semi finals against Australia, he beat John Fitzgerald in four sets in the opening match and then defeated Wally Masur in straight sets in the decisive fifth match to give India a 3-2 win. Against Sweden in the finals, India lost 0-5 with Ramesh Krishnan losing both his singles matches against Mats Wilander and Anders Jarryd. Ramesh Krishnan won the Japan Open in 1986. In 1988, he won the Wellington Open. In 1989, he defeated Mats Wilander in the second round of the Australian Open. In 1990, he won the Schenectady Open. One of Ramesh Krishnan’s most memorable victories was in the Davis Cup quarter finals against France in 1993. It was near the end of his playing career and he signed off in great style by winning the crucial doubles match with Leander Paes as his partner to win the match and the quarter finals tie. He played with the Davis Cup team between 1977 and 1993. He retired in 1993. At the Olympic Games in Barcelona in 1992, Ramesh Krishnan reached the men’s doubles quarter finals partnering Leander Paes. Ramesh Krishnan became India’s Davis Cup Captain in 2007. He has compiled a 29-21 winning record, 23-19 in singles and 6-2 in doubles. Ramesh Krishnan has won eight top level singles titles and one doubles title during his playing career. His highest career ranking was Number Twenty Three in January 1985. Ramesh Krishnan was awarded the Padma Shri in 1998. He is currently a tennis coach and also runs an academy in Chennai. He helps youngsters to realise their potential and develop their techniques in lawn tennis. He may not have had the fastest serve in the world and nor was he blessed with athletic moves on a tennis court but he possessed a large hearted approach to the game that made the world sit up and take notice of his game. Like his father, he demonstrated that he could overpower others by his touch play as well as his extra ordinary ability to anticipate his opponent’s moves. Ramesh Krishnan lives with his wife, Priya Krishnan, in Chennai. He is fond of South Indian food and also appreciates Thai and Italian cuisine.

13 Tips for Increasing the Google Rank of Your Company


All the entrepreneurs will know by now the importance of search engine optimization. They also know that it is important to build up their Google search rankings. In this digital age, the Google rank is very important for the success of your business. A group of young and successful business entrepreneurs have suggested these tips to boost the search engine optimization results for your company. 1. You have to create fresh and interesting content – The content has to be authoritative and of high quality. Create a content that people will be interested in reading and linking back. 2. Audit your online profiles – Check on your website’s URL whether if it is listed somewhere. You can do a lot if you have more than a handful of accounts online. 3. Think like your customers – Think about what your clients may be typing into Google. Check out your hunch by looking up keywords in Google’s free Keyword Tool. 4. Hire an expert if you have to - Hire an SEO company or a freelance specialist to develop a good strategy to improve your search rankings. 5. Guest Post – Start guest posting on relevant blogs. It is a good way to build links. 6. Content is the King and the Links are the Queen – Creating a good content is very important. Links are even more important. Google loves links. 7. Bust out the camera – Video is a huge thing now for business owners. It will give your company a personality and style. Videos can be distributed across multiple platforms. 8. Colleges and Universities – The biggest SEO secret is when .edu sites link to your website, it will give you a higher Google ranking. 9. Update your site frequently – It is important to update your site more often. Google will recognize you as a great source of information if you publish content to your blog every day. 10. Use the right keywords – Two effective ways of increasing your SEO rank are keyword analysis and tagging articles. 11. Move away from Flash – many small businesses use Flash as it is quite cheap but Google ranks them poorly even though they might look decent. Move to WordPress and you will go higher up the search engine rankings. 12. Take advantage of local search – If you are a local business, you have to claim your listing on Google, Yahoo or Bing. There is a big jump in traffic by simply claiming and filling out all the fields on these local profiles. 13. Know exactly what words people use to search – You have to have a clue about what people are typing into Google to find you. An easy way to find out is to go to the Google home page and start typing in your phrases. Google’s suggested searches will come up. Use those exact phrases in your titles. If that is what people want, give it to them.

Why is hand washing so important?


Hand wash is important, not only for children but for parents as well. Good hand washing protects against the spread of many ailments, right from a common cold to serious illnesses like meningitis or Hepatitis A. Common cold is responsible for almost twenty two million lost school days each year. Most people will be affected by infectious diarrhoea even if they do not wash their hands properly. Kids love to play around in dirt and filth. They can bring in millions of germs with them into the house. They won’t bother about washing their hands before eating or after using the bathroom. Hand washing is the best way to prevent germs from spreading and to keep your kids from getting ill. Germs can be transmitted through touching of dirty hands, contaminated food or water or through contact with a sick person’s body fluids or through cough and sneezes. When the children come into contact with these germs, they can unconsciously become infected by touching their eyes, nose or mouth. Once they are infected, it is a matter of time before the whole family comes down with the same illness. Wash your hands in warm water. Use soap and lather for about ten seconds and wash your fingers and nails properly as germs nestle in these places. You can make frequent hand washing a rule in the family for everyone before cooking and eating and after using the bathroom. You cannot underestimate the power of hand washing. The few seconds that you will spend at the wash basin may save you trips to the physician.

Tuesday, February 7, 2017

Indian Hockey Legend


Dhyan Chand was born on 29th August 1905 at Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh. He was born in a Rajput family. He loved wrestling but never took it up. He joined the army when he was sixteen years old. He joined as a Lance Naik. He joined the First Brahmin Regiment at Delhi in 1922 and was later moved to the Punjab Regiment. He grew in the army from a Lance Naik to a Major. He started taking interest in hockey after joining the army and hockey became a religion to him and he practiced it with the passion of an eager devotee. Dhyan Chand came into the limelight when he toured New Zealand with the army team in 1926. He made his Olympic debut for India in 1928 at Amsterdam. India played the hosts Netherlands in the final and beat them 3-0 for the gold medal. The authorities reported that the final was not a game of hockey but it was a game of magic. In Amsterdam, the authorities even went as far as checking his hockey stick if there was any glue applied to it the way Dhyan Chand was making the ball to stick together with his hockey stick. Even the Japanese in later years had a similar suspicion. The Dutch hailed him as the magician of hockey. India’s second gold medal was earned in the next Olympics held in Los Angeles in 1932. India played the host nation again, the United States, and won with a score of 24-1 which stood as a world record, with Dhyan Chand scoring eight of them. Dhyan Chand was made Captain of the hockey team for the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Dhyan Chand played at his peak this year. It was once again the host nation, Germany, and the score was levelled at 1-1 at half time. Dhyan Chand was not keeping well. He came back after the mid time interval and played barefoot, scoring seven consecutive goals to give India its hat trick of gold medals. India beat Germany 8-1. His goal scoring even got to Adolf Hitler, the Chancellor at that time. Hitler was tempted to confiscate his hockey stick. Dhyan Chand’s performance in Berlin inspired Hitler to offer him the rank of a Colonel in the German Army if he was willing to migrate to Germany as Hitler wanted him to play for Germany in the future. Dhyan Chand declined the proposal at a banquet given in the Indian team’s honour. The Austrians were so impressed with Dhyan Chand that a sports club in Vienna built a statue of Dhyan Chand with four hands and four sticks. To the Viennese, it was a miracle that a man with two hands and one hockey stick could have played as well as Dhyan Chand did. Dhyan Chand was given the Viceroy’s Commission in 1938 and the King’s Commission in 1943. The Government of India awarded him with the Padma Bhushan in 1956. He retired as a Major from the army. He became the Chief Hockey Coach at the National Institute of Sports. He died on 3rd December 1979. Dhyan Chand is regarded as the father of modern day hockey. He is an Indian hockey legend. His birthday is celebrated as the National Sports Day in the country. The Indian Olympic Association has hailed him as the best Indian sports person of the century. People who saw him playing hockey had no words to describe his skills and his goal scoring finesse. He had an extra ordinary ability to keep the ball close to his hockey stick and penetrate the opposition’s defence repeatedly at a furious pace. Dhyan Chand had a playing career stretching from 1926 to 1948 and he has scored over a thousand goals in this period. He has scored more goals than any other hockey player in the world. Despite all his fame and achievements, he always remained a simple man. In fact, he starts his autobiography, which he called `Goal’, beginning with the words, “You are doubtless aware that I am a common man”. He had risen to become the greatest centre forward player ever in hockey. He had intelligence, reflexes, stamina and speed. What Sir Donald Bradman did to cricket and Pele did to football was done by Dhyan Chand to hockey. He symbolized the elevation of the sport of hockey to a very high status in the world.

10 Tips to Eat Healthy in the New Year


Many resolutions for the New Year involve eating habits of people. One of the most common is to eat healthier and lose weight. This kind of resolution requires you to look at food differently. You have to take into account the nutritional value in addition to the good taste. It is possible to eat a healthy diet without sacrificing taste. Here are ten tips on how to do it: 1. Make sure you don’t skip breakfast – Don’t leave home without eating a healthy breakfast. People who eat breakfast regularly are not going to pile up on high calorie snacks later on during the day. 2. Don’t drink your calories – Watch the beverages that you drink during the day. You may be sipping very heavy calories. Cut down on the sugar-sweetened soft drinks. Green tea without sugar or lemon juice should be fine. 3. Cut back on packaged foods – The packaged products lack nutritional value and are too high in salt and preservatives. You can focus instead on whole foods. 4. Read the labels before you toss it into your cart – Don’t get carried away by phrases like `low fat’. Low fat is not healthy when it is replaced with sugar. Check the number of servings in a package. 5. Spend more time in the produce aisle – Fruits and vegetables are full of vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidants that fight ailments associated with aging. They are also low on calories. 6. Frozen vegetables are not bad – They may be just as good for you as fresh ones. They are frozen during their peak of freshness. 7. Look out for non-meat forms of protein – Processed meat gives possibility of boosting cancer cells in the body, particularly breast cancer and colon cancer. Soya or wheat gluten substitutes may be palatable with a tasty sauce. 8. Make healthy snacks accessible – Pack your fridge with health snacks like yogurt, chopped vegetables and fruit. You can also make snack packs using nuts, seeds and low calorie cereal. 9. Change the way you buy groceries – Never shop when you are hungry. Drive your cart to where the healthier foods are kept. Stay away from cookies and packaged snacks. 10. Research before eating out – Restaurant food is deceptive in terms of sauces, added oil or butter. Plan your meal before you go out so that you don’t get carried away by tempting names of dishes. It is always good to be conscious of healthy food and a slim waistline.

Saturday, February 4, 2017

Ways to pep up the performance of your Android Phone


You do not have to be downtrodden if the performance of your Android smartphone has started to sag. You can resort to few steps that will help you restore your phone to top working condition. Performance lag could be combated with regularly updating those apps which are problematic and managing the system resources smartly. The first step that you can take in this direction is by buying antivirus for Android mobile. Kill Unnecessary Apps You may like to show your phone off to others for its multi-tasking capabilities across numerous applications; but you really do not need the YouTube app to waste your battery life and your memory resources when it runs even in the background. An Advanced Task Killer app could take care of this; it will close down unnecessary apps completely. Keep the Phone Apps up to date It is not always the phone’s operating system that makes you cry. If some app is slowing down your smartphone, you can look for some updates in the Android Market. You can do that by launching the `Android Market’; then, tap the Menu Button, select `My Apps’. Check each application for its updates on the right side. You could also turn the background data off. It is not only the apps that are run in the background; Facebook and Twitter are also constantly downloading data and when you launch them, it is easy to stop that. Ou can open up the Settings app on the phone; click on Data Manager and de-select `Background Data’. Knock off the Google Services An Android operating system will include access to Google Services automatically like Books, Contacts, Currents, Google+ and Gmail. If you do not require these services, you can manage them and turn them off. Defragment the Phone’s Memory The internal RAM of the Android phone gets a boost in its performance after defragmentation, just like your personal computer. An app in the Android Market known as Memory Booster will defragment the RAM. It will also repair the data leaks that may have resulted from those apps which were damaged. One of the best ways to make sure that the apps do not get damaged is to protect them and your Android phone with AVG antivirus 2014. AVG Tune up and Android Cleaner AVG’s Android Cleaner will help you get rid of all unnecessary apps that you have not used in the last fortnight. The `Tune up’ app will ensure that all remaining tasks are closed before the tests are done on the performance and battery life. The Power Saver feature of AVG also offers various options to improve the battery life by turning off the auto-sync, auto-rotation, GPS, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. In addition to all these tools, the most important protection is by AVG antivirus for Android and smartphone.

Best Diet Plans for Weight Loss


It would be a dream diet for you if you could include the foods that you like in that plan for weight loss. Dream diets exist. Here is one of the best diet plans for weight loss. This could be a match and mix plan that will include your favourite burgers and pizzas. The plan would stretch anywhere between 1200 -1350 calories every day. You would also need to work out and burn a little fat by the side. One of the best diet plans for weight loss Be prepared to eat, drink, be merry and shrink! Breakfast Menu Make an open-faced Caprese Omelet. Pack it up with vegetables and cut down on the cheese and eggs so that you save up to a couple of hundreds of calories. You can whisk a couple of eggs and cook gently on medium heat with a teaspoon of extra-virgin olive oil to make an open-faced omelet. Slide the omelet on to a plate and top it with a medium slice of tomato. Add a dash of few basil leaves, balsamic vinegar and sprinkle sea salt to taste. Another option is to make an egg sandwich that you can grab on the go if you want a fast meal. If you want meat along with your egg in the sandwich, go for bacon instead of sausages. You will save on almost a hundred calories. You could drink some iced tea with the egg sandwich. Lunch and Dinner Menu Go for a Turkey Cheeseburger with Guacamole. This burger will give you the right fill of vegetables. Grill a three-ounce ground turkey patty and sprinkle some salt and pepper on it. Serve on whole grain bun that is smeared with guacamole and topped with red onion slices, tomato slices and baby salad greens. You can add a dash of vinegar to it, if you like. You may also go for a pizza. Instead of a deep dish, you could stick to just a couple of slices of Margarita pizza that has only tomato and cheese. By avoiding all those salami and chicken nuggets, you could save yourself a couple of hundreds of calories. You could top up the pizza with your favourite seasoned vegetables and baby mushrooms or baby spinach. Snacks Go for grilled apple with yogurt. Avoid an apple pie and save over a couple of hundreds of calories. You could core and halve a medium apple and cut each half into half a dozen wedges and grill over medium heat. Put the wedges in the microwave oven for half a minute to soften them up. You can then top with a couple of tablespoons of low fat vanilla yogurt and sprinkle with ground cinnamon. This is among the best diet plans for weight loss where you can shed about eight pounds in a matter of a fortnight.

The Spinner who bowled with a Classic Loop


Erapalli Anantharao Srinivas Prasanna was born on 22nd May 1940 at Bangalore. He played Ranji Trophy for Karnataka. His first class career started in 1961. He made his test debut against England at Madras in 1961. In 1962, he went to the West Indies on his first overseas tour. He took a sabbatical from cricket between 1962 and 1966 to finish his engineering degree. He was known in the team as `Pras’. Erapalli Prasanna belonged to the famous spin quartet of the Indian cricket team. He was a right hand bat and a right arm off spinner. He played 49 tests scoring 735 runs and picking up 189 wickets with a best of 8/76. He played 235 first class matches and picked up 957 wickets. He played his last test against Pakistan at Lahore in 1978. He played first class cricket between 1961 and 1978. Erapalli Prasanna led Karnataka twice to the Ranji Trophy championship, once ending Bombay’s reign of fifteen long years. In the series against West Indies in 1966, the spin quartet troubled the West Indian batting line up. Prasanna helped India record its first victory overseas when he took twenty five wickets in four tests in New Zealand in 1968. Erapalli Prasanna grew professionally under the guidance of Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, Jr. He enjoyed bowling to batsmen who were eager to try and loft him. He was always out thinking his victims before he delivered the ball. He had complete control on the trajectory of the flight. He was sometimes difficult to play even on good batting tracks. When the batsmen thought that they were going to meet a half volley, they found that the ball had pitched a foot shorter than they had anticipated. His arm ball drifted like a floater and wobbled in the air. He spun the ball with a classic loop towards the batsmen with good chances of beating them in the air and also making the ball bounce higher than the batsmen’s anticipation. Hanumanth Singh has hailed this legendary off spinner as the finest spinner he has faced. In his memoirs, he has written, “Prasanna had plenty of variations and his repertoire was unlimited as was his imagination. How he bowled depended on what you did as a batsman. It was a constant battle of wits. We were playing on a bad turning wicket in Madras. There was a cross breeze from the Marina Beach and he was bowling from the Southern End. He went around and bowled a flighted delivery. The ball floated out. I planted my front foot too soon. The ball drifted in. The foot remained there but the bat was dragged away towards the ball, creating a gap. The ball pitched, turned and went through the gate, bowling me.” Erapalli Prasanna was known as the chess grandmaster of off spin bowling as a result of his deceptive style. He has written his autobiography titled ` One more over’. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1970 and the Castrol Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006.

10 Places to visit before it is too late


Environmentalists have been warning us again and again about the impact certain places may have that will make their existence difficult in the days to come. We are lending a deaf ear to that. It is perhaps time to speed up with your travel plans, if any, to these places as these nature’s blessings may just not be there sometime in the future. Ten places are threatened. These places may just disappear before you plan your trips to them. 1. The Dead Sea in the Jordan Rift Valley, which is therapeutically a wonder of the world, has shrunk by about a third of its size in the last forty years. 2. The Valley of Kings in Egypt is also in danger as the rise in tourism and the damaging fungi are eroding the ancient tombs there. 3. The Maldives is the lowest nation on Earth. The islands are situated just eight feet above the sea level and the islands are sinking at a rapid pace because of the meltdown of ice caps from global warming. 4. The Everglades in the United States of America which are vast wetlands are being threatened by farming and water diversion and they have reduced already by half their original size. 5. Olympia in Greece, which has been the home for the Olympic Games, is being threatened by wildfires and continuous hot summers. 6. Venice has been sinking for a long time due to rising sea levels and increased flooding and the woodwork in most of the canal buildings is not making things easy for the city. 7. The Arctic Pole has decreased as the ice is melting on account of oil and gas explorations and the pole is decreasing by about three per cent per decade. 8. The Antarctic Pole is also decreasing because of the global warming on account of mining explorations and the sewage that has been dumped and discharged into the sea along with such rubbish that cannot be decomposed for many years. 9. Taj Mahal, another wonder of the world, in India, is facing swift extinction because of the continuous corrosion of its facade by the extreme pollution in the neighbourhood and its wooden based foundations for the mausoleum make it prone to threat of collapse. 10. Amazon Rainforests are known as the lungs of the world as they produce almost twenty per cent of the world’s oxygen by themselves. They are the world’s largest tropical rainforests. They are also being threatened by explorations in oil and gas and mining, resulting in heavy pollution.

Why A Day Is Made Up Of Twenty Four Hours?


In this world, everything is governed by the decimal system. We are living in a base-10 world. The decimal system covers the binary functions of a computer right down to the amount of change that you get when you buy something at a grocery store. Then, why is a standard Earth day not ten hours long? Maybe, the Egyptians can answer this question. They were the first to set their clocks to base-12. This system was taken from the Sumerian culture. The Sumerians were not counting by the whole fingers on our hands but by the spaces between the knuckles of a hand counted by the thumb of that same hand. It totals to twelve. The Egyptians divided the day into twelve-hour halves to measure time using this method. Actually, they used to interpret a day with ten hours of work to be added to two hours of morning and evening twilight and the twelve hours of darkness. The Egyptians based the hours on the movement of the heavens. They tracked a series of small constellations known as `decans’ which were thirty six in number and rose consecutively over the horizon once every forty minutes. The rising of each decan marked the beginning approximately of a new hour. Even at night, tables were produced to help determine time by observing decans. The Greeks were not happy with this system. Their astronomer, Hipparchus, synthesized the Egyptian star clock into the standardized equinoctial clock that is being used today whereby each segment of darkness and light on the Equinoxes is divided into equal length segments of twelve multiplied by two.

Wednesday, February 1, 2017

Website Designers can decide the Fate of your Website and the Image of your Brand


Web design is probably the most important element for any website project that needs to be successful. The main functions of web designers are conceptualising, post-production, advertising, research and media control. A business enterprise that wants to be successful can make a home on the web with a distinct and personalised website and its corresponding home page. Once this platform is built by means of a website design, customers can start visiting and making decisions for purchase. Website Designers can make or break your Company’s Image Selection of website designers can decide the fate of the impression of your business brand with so much high value that is being placed in technological competence of a business enterprise and the way it projects itself. If a website is executed poorly and it becomes difficult to navigate it, customers are going to stay away from it; this standard will apply to everyone, ranging from the new starters to the biggest of retailers. Conversely, if a website is found easy by the customers to gather valuable information, it will help in creating a positive relationship between the customer and the seller from the very beginning. Design of the Logo A logo design plays an important role in setting up a pleasant online experience for the business customers. It is not enough to just have a website that gives out useful information to impress the visitors. Customers are getting used to flashy graphics and sophisticated logo designs will go a long way in impressing them. Many companies are being recognised by their logos alone. Organisation of a Website When it comes to creation of websites, graphic designing has to be left to the professional web design companies. When you take a look on the internet, you will get a fair idea of how graphic designs with their cutting edge are making sites popular and successful. For example, if you operate a fine dining outlet, you can have a web page with your menu and contact information, but how you lay this information out can make the difference between gaining and losing a new prospective customer. If a website is organised poorly and launched without adequate proof reading, carrying spelling errors, it can turn many a customer away and reflect a negative professional image of a business. It is also important when organising a website that important bits of information like addresses, phone contact details and directions are not suppressed under indirect links. Smart web designers dedicate a good part of the web pages and tabs in a website to include this important information bits. Importance of Graphic Design Smart website designers build a site with a vision and they bring that vision to fruition with their skills and expertise. They have a fair idea as web designers on how to attract attention to important information with intricate details and they know how to upsell a company’s services and its products. What makes a website design company stand apart from others is its affordability and its capacity to offer web solutions that are wholly functional to both large and small scale business enterprises.

The Tennis Icon of India


Vijay Amritraj was born on 14th December 1953 to Mr. Robert Amritraj and Mrs. Maggie Dhairyam, a Christian family, in Chennai. His father was a railroad official. Vijay grew up on a small estate in Southern Chennai. He was first interested in badminton but when he noticed how much his brother Anand was enjoying lawn tennis, he took over and both the brothers played as a team. The third brother, Ashok, also joined in. These three were the first Indians to earn a living from professional tennis and became world class tennis players. Vijay Amritraj played his first Grand Prix event in 1970 at the age of sixteen and achieved his first significant success in international singles in 1973 when he reached the quarter finals of Wimbledon. He lost to Jan Kodes in that quarter final match. He also featured in a quarterfinal match at the U.S. Open the same year where he lost to Ken Rosewall. He managed to reach the quarter finals of the U.S. Open again in 1974 and it was Ken Rosewall one more time that defeated him. He was able to reach the quarter finals at Wimbledon again in 1981 when Jimmy Connors beat him. Vijay Amritraj has compiled a career singles win-loss record of 384-296, winning sixteen singles titles and thirteen doubles titles. He has been one of the most famous lawn tennis players in the world. He also became a tennis icon for India. He played for almost two decades between 1970 and 1990 and was the top tennis player in Asia for almost fourteen years. Pancho Gonzalez was his coach. Vijay Amritraj was part of the Indian Davis Cup Team that reached the finals in 1974. He played as a team with his brother, Anand Amritraj. He came back after thirteen years in 1987 to play for India in the Davis Cup when the team reached the finals again but lost to Sweden. During his peak period, he beat the big names in tennis like John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, Rod Laver, Ken Rosewall, John Newcombe, Bjorn Borg and Yannick Noah. They all fell prey at least once to his aggressive serve and volley game. He reached a career high of world number sixteen. In the recent years, Vijay Amritraj has become a leading tennis commentator for Fox Sports in the United States and Star TV in Asia. He has started a Company called `First Serve Entertainment’ that is managed by his brother Ashok Amritraj and himself. It is based in California, United States and is one of the prominent multimedia production companies that deals with American Asian content. He has been helpful in Disney, Turner and ESPN entering the Indian market. Vijay Amritraj has been named the Eighth Messenger of Peace by the United Nations. In 2006, after completing his assignment, he established the `Vijay Amritraj Foundation’ to bring hope and healing to the innocent and defenceless victims of disease and circumstances in India. Vijay Amritraj had a brief acting career and has appeared in films like `the Players’ in 1979 and `Octopussy’ (the James Bond Film) in 1983. He has also worked for NBC’s television drama, `The Last Precinct’. Vijay Amritraj lives in California with his wife, Shyamala, a Sri Lankan Tamilian and his two sons, Prakash Amritraj and Vikram Amritraj. Prakash Amritraj is also a professional tennis player. In 2003, Prakash won the National Championships at the University of Southern California. Vijay Amritraj has put India on the map of international tennis in the Open Era. His personality even impressed Farrah-Fawcett Majors, one of America’s supermodels and actresses. He also held the position of the President of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for several years.