Decision-making concerning fertility control is, for many people, a deeply personal and sensitive issue, often involving religious or philosophical convictions. Thus, it is important for the clinician to approach the subject with particular sensitivity, empathy, maturity, and nonjudg-mental behavior.
Despite the introduction of modern contraceptives, unintended or unplanned pregnancies continue to be a major problem in the United States. According to the 1995 National Survey of Family Growth, there were a total of 6.3 million pregnancies in the United States, of which 49.2% were unintended. Among the unintended pregnancies, nearly half result in a pregnancy termination and over 10% in spontaneous abortion, a substantial degree of pregnancy wastage. Unintended and unplanned pregnancies have social and economic ramifications; they also have a significant impact on public health. Approximately 40% of unintended pregnancies occur among women who do not desire pregnancy yet do not use a method of contraception. Approximately 60% of unintended pregnancies occur among women using some form of birth control. Such data suggest that many women and couples are inadequately motivated to use contraception, that side effects may be problematic for some, that access may be an issue for others, or that some methods may be difficult for women to use correctly.
Barack H. Obama is the 44th President of the United States.
His story is the American story — values from the heartland, a middle-class upbringing in a strong family, hard work and education as the means of getting ahead, and the conviction that a life so blessed should be lived in service to others.
With a father from Kenya and a mother from Kansas, President Obama was born in Hawaii on August 4, 1961. He was raised with help from his grandfather, who served in Patton's army, and his grandmother, who worked her way up from the secretarial pool to middle management at a bank.
After working his way through college with the help of scholarships and student loans, President Obama moved to Chicago, where he worked with a group of churches to help rebuild communities devastated by the closure of local steel plants.
He went on to attend law school, where he became the first African—American president of the Harvard Law Review. Upon graduation, he returned to Chicago to help lead a voter registration drive, teach constitutional law at the University of Chicago, and remain active in his community.
President Obama's years of public service are based around his unwavering belief in the ability to unite people around a politics of purpose. In the Illinois State Senate, he passed the first major ethics reform in 25 years, cut taxes for working families, and expanded health care for children and their parents. As a United States Senator, he reached across the aisle to pass groundbreaking lobbying reform, lock up the world's most dangerous weapons, and bring transparency to government by putting federal spending online.
He was elected the 44th President of the United States on November 4, 2008, and sworn in on January 20, 2009. He and his wife, Michelle, are the proud parents of two daughters, Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7.
China's Tianhe-1A super computer is claimed to be the world's fastest computer. The machine, built by the National University of Defense Technology, has 2.507 petaflops per second of peak processing power. In simple words, it can make 2,507 trillion calculations per second.
Tianhe-1A (Tianhe means the Milky Way) was unveiled on Thursday at the annual meeting of National High Performance Computing in Beijing.
The next set of rankings for the world's fastest computers is yeat to be revealed, but Jack Dongarra, computer scientist of University of Tennessee who maintains the official supercomputer rankings, said he didn't believe that he would come across a faster supercomputer.
The US boasts of the fact that it has more than 250 of the world's fastest 500 super computers. China has 24 of the top 500 super computers of the world, but it is investing huge amounts of money into the supercomputer technology to strengthen its position further.
US technology giants Intel and Nvidia supplied thousands of chips that were used to make the super machine, Tianhe-1A, which is housed in the northern port city of Tianjin, close to Beijing. But, the networking technology that lets information to be exchanged among servers at astonishing speeds was developed by Chinese researchers.
Former number one super computer Cray XT5 Jaguar, which is housed at Oak Ridge in Tennessee, has a peak processing power of 1.75 petaflops per second.
The Navy celebrated Earth Day April 22 by showcasing a flight test of the "Green Hornet," an F/A-18 Super Hornet multirole fighter jet powered by a biofuel blend.
The test, conducted at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., drew hundreds of onlookers, including Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus, who has made the exploration and adoption of alternative fuels a priority for the Navy and Marine Corps.
Mabus observed the flight and tracked its data from a Project Engineering Station at the air station's Atlantic Test Range. After the jet landed, he met the pilot, Lt. Cmdr. Tom Weaver, of Billerica, Mass.
"The alternative fuels test program is a significant milestone in the certification and ultimate operational use of biofuels by the Navy and Marine Corps," said Mabus. It's important to emphasize, especially on Earth Day, the Navy's commitment to reducing dependence on foreign oil as well as safeguarding our environment. Our Navy, alongside industry, the other services and federal agency partners, will continue to be an early adopter of alternative energy sources."
The Green Hornet runs on a 50/50 blend of conventional jet fuel and a biofuel that comes from camelina, a hardy U.S.-grown plant that can thrive even in difficult soil.
The Defense Energy Support Center, which oversees procurement of biofuel for the Navy, recently awarded a $2.7 million contract to Sustainable Oils of Seattle and Bozeman, Mont., for 40,000 gallons of camelina-based fuel. The Navy's ultimate goal is to develop protocols to certify alternative fuels for use in its aircraft and ships.
"The aircraft flew exactly as we expected- no surprises," said Weaver, F/A-18 project officer for Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 23 and pilot for the Earth Day flight test. "The fuel works so well, all I needed to do was just fly the plane."
"Our mission today and for the rest of the flight tests is to confirm that the fuel makes no difference in performance across the Super Hornet's entire flight envelope, from subsonic to supersonic operations," said Mark Swierczek, Naval Air Systems Command propulsion flight test engineer. "Preliminary results show there was no difference in engine ops attributable to the biofuel. Engine performance is normal and as expected."
The Navy Fuels Lab at Patuxent River is developing certification standards for a variety of renewable, alternative fuel sources.
"These flight tests are part of an extensive test and evaluation process that started last fall," said Rick Kamin, the Navy's Fuels team lead. "The fuel's chemical and physical properties were first analyzed in the lab, followed by component and engine performance testing - and now in a series of flight tests covering the entire flight envelope of the Super Hornet – including supersonic operations."
According to Kamin, final approval and certification for the camelina-based biofuel could take an additional six to nine months after flight test April 22. The Earth Day flight test is one of 15 planned test flights requiring approximately 23 flight-hours to complete, starting in mid-April 2010 and completing by mid-June 2010. The Earth Day flight lasted about 45 minutes.
The Green Hornet biofuel program is the first aviation test program to test and evaluate the performance of a 50/50 biofuel blend in supersonic (above mach 1) operations – a critical test point to successfully clear the F/A-18 E/F for biofuel operations through its entire flight envelope. Once successfully demonstrated on the F/A-18 F414 engine, the Navy will expand its certification efforts to other Navy and Marine Corps aircraft and Navy tactical systems.
When we think of the Middle Ages, we are apt to think of the fall of the Roman Empire and the victory of the barbarians. We think of the decline of learning, of the coming of feudalism and petty warfare. Yet that is not entirely so, for the Roman Empire did not really fall. It lasted all through the Middle Ages. Europe and America as they exist now would not be here if the Roman Empire had not continued to prevail for a thou-sand years after it was supposed to have fallen.
When we say that the Roman Empire fell, all we mean is that its western provinces were invaded by German tribesmen and their civilization disrupted. The eastern half of the Roman Empire, however, remained intact and for centuries occupied the southeast corner of Europe with adjacent lands in Asia.
This portion of the Roman Empire continued to be rich and powerful all through the centuries when western Europe was weak and divided. The empire remained learned and cultured, when western Europe was ignorant and barbarous The empire, out of its strength, held off the swelling forces of eastern invaders for a thousand years; and western Europe, safe behind that barrier of military might, could develop in peace until its culture formed a high civilization distinctly its own.
The empire of the southeast transmitted to the West both Roman law and Greek learning. It passed on art, architecture and manners; it gave the West great abstractions-like the notion of absolute monarchy-and small conveniences-like forks. What's more, it gave all this and religion, too, to eastern Europe and to Russia, in particular.
But at last western Europe grew strong and capable of defending itself, while the empire wore away with exhaustion. And what was western Europe's return for what it had received? It gave back contempt and hatred. It hurt in every way it could the forlorn remnant of the once-great empire, and when the final death throes came, it coldly withheld any help. The ingratitude continues even after death, for the history of that empire is virtually ignored in our schools, and when bits are presented, it is done without sympathy.
So few westerners realized that in the centuries when Paris and London were ramshackle towns, with streets of mud and hovels of wood, there was a queen city in the East that was rich in gold, filled with works of art, bursting with gorgeous churches, busy with commerce-the wonder and the admiration of all who saw it.
That city was the capital of the Roman Empire of the Middle Ages; it was Constantinople. And the history of that city extends back a thousand years before it was Constantinople
Now here and in Lacedaemon the rules about love are perplexing, but in most cities they are simple and easily intelligible; in Elis and Boeotia, and in countries having no gifts of eloquence, they are very straightforward; the law is simply in favour of these connexions, and no one, whether young or old, has anything to say to their discredit; the reason being, as I suppose, that they are men of few words in those parts, and therefore the lovers do not like the trouble of pleading their suit. In Ionia and other places, and generally in countries which are subject to the barbarians, the custom is held to be dishonourable; loves of youths share the evil repute in which philosophy and gymnastics are held because they are inimical to tyranny; for the interests of rulers require that their subjects should be poor in spirit and that there should be no strong bond of friendship or society among them, which love, above all other motives, is likely to inspire, as our Athenian tyrants-learned by experience; for the love of Aristogeiton and the constancy of Harmodius had strength which undid their power. And, therefore, the ill-repute into which these attachments have fallen is to be ascribed to the evil condition of those who make them to be ill-reputed; that is to say, to the self-seeking of the governors and the cowardice of the governed; on the other hand, the indiscriminate honour which is given to them in some countries is attributable to the laziness of those who hold this opinion of them. In our own country a far better principle prevails, but, as I was saying, the explanation of it is rather perplexing. For, observe that open loves are held to be more honourable than secret ones, and that the love of the noblest and highest, even if their persons are less beautiful than others, is especially honourable.
...There are two goddesses. The elder one, having no mother, who is called the heavenly Aphrodite-she is the daughter of Uranus; the younger, who is the daughter of Zeus and Dione-her we call common; and the Love who is her fellow-worker is rightly named common, as the other love is called heavenly. All the gods ought to have praise given to them, but not without distinction of their natures; and therefore I must try to distinguish the characters of the two Loves. Now actions vary according to the manner of their performance. Actions are not in themselves either good or evil, but they turn out in this or that way according to the mode of performing them; and when well done they are good, and when wrongly done they are evil; and in like manner not every love, but only that which has a noble purpose, is noble and worthy of praise. The Love who is the offspring of the common Aphrodite is essentially common, and has no discrimination, being such as the meaner sort of men feel, and is apt to be of women as well as of youths, and is of the body rather than of the soul-the most foolish beings are the objects of this love which desires only to gain an end, but never thinks of accomplishing the end nobly, and therefore does good and evil quite indiscriminately...
There are hopes that stem cell therapy can be used to tackle many diseases
US doctors have begun the first official trial of using human embryonic stem cells in patients after getting the green light from regulators.
The Food and Drug Administration has given a licence to Geron to use the controversial cells to treat people with spinal injuries.
The cells have the potential to become many of the different cell types found in the body, including nerve cells.
The trials at a hospital in Atlanta will check if the treatment is safe.
...Eventually Oedipus came to the gates of Thebes. Guarding the gates was a terrible monster with the body of a lion and the head and torso of a woman. She allowed no one to enter or leave the city without answering the riddle that she posed. If the traveler could not answer correctly, she would kill and devour him. As no one had yet come up with the right answer, the sphinx was well-fed, and the city of Thebes was effectively cut off from all trade and all contact with the world outside the city walls.
When Oedipus reached the gates of the city, the creature posed her riddle: What walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three legs in the evening? Oedipus solved the riddle, answering that man crawls on all fours in infancy, walks upright on two legs in adulthood, and uses a cane as a third leg in old age. The sphinx was so frustrated that Oedipus had answered her riddle that she threw herself from the city walls, and died there on the road in front of the city that she had terrorized for so long...
There is an ever increasing percentage of women who never had a child. Among the women born in 1948, 13% did not have a child when they were at the age of 35 years old. This percentage had almost doubled in women born 10 years later.
In addition, the incidence of infertility as a medical problem that seems to come to the attention of physicians has increased and there are several reasons for this.
First of all, there is a change in people concerning family planning, a fact characteristic of modern world countries. Therefore, many women bear their first child after the age of 30.
Also, there is a decline in male fertility and environmental pollution seems to be the reason for this.
Finally, people’s expectations concerning infertility treatment are increasing in a steady pace, resulting in the fact that for some couples the possibility of not succeeding and not bearing a child is almost impossible and completely out of the question.
The glandulae vestibulares majores (larger vestibular glands or Bartholin glands) have a duct measuring approximately 5 mm in diameter.
The gland itself lies just inferior and lateral to the bulbocavernosus muscle. The gland is tubular and alveolar in character, with a thin capsule and connective tissue septa dividing it into lobules in which occasional smooth muscle fibers are found.
The epithelium is cuboid to columnar and pale in color, with the cytoplasm containing mucigen droplets and colloid spherules with acidophilic inclusions. The epithelium of the duct is simple in type, and its orifice is stratified squamous like the vestibule. The secretion is a clear, viscid, and stringy mucoid substance with an alkaline pH.
Secretion is active during s*xual activity.
Nonetheless, after about age 30, the glands undergo involution and become atrophic and shrunken.
The arterial supply to the greater vestibular gland comes from a small branch of the artery on the bulbocavernosus muscle, penetrating deep into its substance.
Venous drainage coincides with the drainage of the bulbocavernosus body.
The lymphatics drain directly into the lymphatics of the vestibular plexus, having access to the posterior vaginal wall along the inferior hemorrhoidal channels.
They also drain via the perineum into the inguinal area.
Most of this minor drainage is along the pudendal vessels in the canalis pudendalis and explains, in part, the difficulty in dealing with cancer involving the gland.
The greater vestibular gland is homologous to the bulboutethral gland (also known as Cowper's glands, Duverney's glands, Tiedemann's glands, or the Bartholin glands of the male).
The innervation of the greater vestibular gland is from a small branch of the perineal nerve, which penetrates directly into its substance.
The primary symptom of acute cervicitis is a purulent vaginal discharge. The appearance of the discharge is variable—often thick and creamy as in gonorrheal infection; foamy and greenish-white as in trichomona! infection; white and curdlike as in candidiasis; and thin and gray as in bacterial vaginosis. Chlamydia infections often produce a purulent discharge from an angry, reddened, congested cervix. The discharge is often indistinguishable from that due to gonorrheal cervicitis and has been characterized as mucopurulent. Other pathogens that have recently been identified as possible causes of cervicitis are Mycoplasma genitalium, HSV-1 and HSV-2, cytomegalovirus, and bacterial vaginosis. Mucopurulent cervicitis, however, may be present in 40-60% of women in whom no infection is identified.
Inspection of the cervix initially infected hy N gonorrhoeae generally reveals an acutely inflamed, edematous cervix with a purulent discharge escaping from the external os. In trichomonal infection, the classic strawberrylike appearance may be visible on the squamous epithelial surface of the portio vaginalis as well as the adjacent vaginal mucosa. In candidiasis, there is likely to be a white cheesy exudate that is difficult to wipe away and, if scraped off, usually leaves punctate hemorrhagic areas. Colposcopic findings of acute cervicitis are those primarily of an altered microangioarchitecture with marked increase in the surface capillaries, which when viewed end-on may show a pattern of diffuse "puncta-tion." Trichomoniasis is typified by characteristic double-hairpin capillaries. The capillary pattern of inflammation should not be confused with that of neoplasia. In an inflammatory process, the colposcopic picture is diffuse with ill-defined margins in contrast with the localized and sharply demarcated vascular changes associated with intraepithelial neoplasia. It should be emphasized that invasive cancers often are secondarily infected, so in addition to the colposcopic changes associated with frank malignancy, those related to inflammation are also present. Colposcopy also readily identifies the fine villiform pattern of cervical ectopy.
Infertility may be a consequence of cervicitis. A thick, glutinous, acidic, pus-laden cervical mucus is noxious to sperm and prevents fertilization.
Vulvar burning and itching may be prominent symptoms. Gonorrheal cervicitis may be accompanied by urethritis with frequency, urgency, and dysuria. If associated with acute salpingitis, the symptoms and signs will be those of pelvic peritonitis. Hyperemia of the infected cervix may be associated with freely bleeding areas. Cervical ooze may account for intermenstrual (often postcoital) spotting. Bleeding commonly occurs due to cervical friability when endocervical smears are obtained.
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