Friday, December 29, 2006

Dengue

Dengue is a flu-like viral disease spread by the bite of infected mosquitoes. Dengue hemorrhagic fever is a severe, often fatal, complication of dengue. Dengue occurs in most tropical areas of the world. Most U.S. cases occur in travelers returning from abroad, but the dengue risk is increasing for persons living along the Texas-Mexico border and in other parts of the southern United States. There is no specific treatment for dengue.

Prevention centers on avoiding mosquito bites in areas where dengue occurs or might occur and eliminating breeding sites. Dengue and dengue hemorrhagic fever are caused by any of the dengue family of viruses. Infection with one virus does not protect a person against infection with another. Dengue is spread by the bite of an Aedes mosquito. The mosquito transmits the disease by biting an infected person and then biting someone else.

Thursday, December 14, 2006

Home Decorations

Dolls were issued in England as Action Girl. These dolls were very similar to the US-issued dolls except that their eyes were side glancing and their hair was different. The US dolls had a piece of hair on other side of the face pulled up into a bow on top of the head. The Action Girl dolls had straight hair with no bows. Desktop Décor objects are also available.

The Action Girl dolls also had their own line of clothing. They also came out as a special Grants doll called Donna. These dolls had curly hair pulled to one side. It is used for home decorations.

The Teddy bear is a stuffed toy bear for children. It is an enduring, traditional form of stuffed animal, often serving the purpose of comforting upset young children. In recent times, some teddy bears, Wall Clocks have become expensive collector's items are used as a home accents.

The word art is also used to apply judgments of value, as in such expressions as "that meal was a work of art", or "the art of deception,”. It is this use of the word as a measure of high quality and high value that gives the term its flavor of subjectivity.

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Waste Water Treatment

A standard wastewater treatment train would typically consist of a primary clarifier system to remove solid and floating materials, a secondary treatment system consisting of an aeration basin followed by flocculation and sedimentation or an activated sludge system and secondary clarifiers, a tertiary biological nitrogen removal system, and a final tertiary disinfections unit.

The aeration basin/activated sludge system removes organic material by growing bacteria. The secondary clarifier removes the activated sludge from the water. The tertiary system is becoming more prevalent to remove nitrogen and phosphorus and do final disinfections of the water prior to its discharge to a surface water stream or ocean outfall. Before reentering into a body of water, the wastewater gets treated under a multi-stage process then only the water gets renovated and it is used for application

Anaerobic processes are widely applied in the treatment of industrial wastewaters and biological sludge. Some wastewater may be highly treated and reused as reclaimed water. For some wastewaters ecological approaches using reed bed systems such as constructed wetlands may be appropriate. Modern systems include tertiary treatment by micro filtration or synthetic membranes. After membrane filtration, the treated wastewater is indistinguishable from waters of natural origin of drinking quality.

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

The Great Wall of China

The Great Wall started as earth works thrown up for protection by different States. The individual sections weren't connected until the Qin dynasty (221-206 B.C.). Qin Shihuangdi, First Emperor of Qin began conscripting peasants, enemies, and anyone else who wasn't tied to the land to go to work on the wall. He garrisoned armies at the Wall to stand guard over the workers as well as to defend the northern boundaries. The tradition lasted for centuries. Each dynasty added to the height, breadth, length, and elaborated the design mostly through forced labor.

It was during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) that the Wall took on its present form. The brick and granite work was enlarged and sophisticated designs were added. The watch towers were redesigned and modern canon were mounted in strategic areas. The Portuguese had found a ready market for guns and canon in China, one of the few items of trade that China didn't already have in abundance. The Ming Emperors, having overthrown the Hun dominance and expelled their Mongol rulers of the North devoted large portions of available material and manpower to making sure that they didn't return.

Throughout the centuries, armies were garrisoned along the length of the Wall to provide early warning of invasion and a first line of defense. Great piles of straw and dung used to build signal fires have been found during excavations. There must have been small garrison towns spotted along the length. There weren't many farms or trade towns to provide ease, relaxation and food. The supply trails were over mountains along narrow paths. To bring supplies to the top, ropes were slung over posts set in the Chinese side of the wall and baskets were hauled up hand over hand. Supplies must have always been short and chancy, particularly in the winter.

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Hanging Gardens of Babylon

The Garden is quadrangular, and each side is four plethra long. It consists of arched vaults which are located on checkered cube-like foundations.. The ascent of the uppermost terrace-roofs is made by a stairway.

The Hanging Garden has plants cultivated above ground level, and the roots of the trees are embedded in an upper terrace rather than in the earth. The whole mass is supported on stone columns... Streams of water emerging from elevated sources flow down sloping channels... These waters irrigate the whole garden saturating the roots of plants and keeping the whole area moist. Hence the grass is permanently green and the leaves of trees grow firmly attached to supple branches... This is a work of art of royal luxury and its most striking feature is that the labor of cultivation is suspended above the heads of the spectators.

More recent archaeological excavations at the ancient city of Babylon in Iraq uncovered the foundation of the palace. Other findings include the Vaulted Building with thick walls and irrigation well near the southern palace. A group of archaeologists surveyed the area of the southern palace and reconstructed the Vaulted Building as the Hanging Gardens. However, the Greek historian Strabo had stated that the gardens were situated by the River Euphrates. So others argue that the site is too far from the Euphrates to support the theory since the Vaulted Building is several hundreds of meters away. They reconstructed the site of the palace and located the Gardens in the area stretching from the River to the Palace. On the river banks, recently discovered massive walls 25 m thick may have been stepped to form terraces.

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Victoria Falls


There are few appropriate superlatives that have not already been applied to this magnificent natural wonder of the world; in many ways it defies description. So vast are the Falls and their setting that it is difficult to grasp their true grandeur and for this reason, they are perhaps best seen from the air.

The Victoria Falls offer an inescapable closeness to the natural elements. The towering column of spray when the river is high, the thunder of the falling water, the terrifying abyss that separates Zimbabwe from Zambia, the forest - lined, placid, tranquil lagoons upstream in which hippo and deadly crocodiles lurk.

David Livingstone reported the existence of the Falls to the outside world in 1860. The result was immediate and from that point, the number of foreign visitors rose steadily. People walked, rode on horseback or traveled by ox - wagon from the Transvaal along what was then called the Hunters Road (now the border between Botswana and Zimbabwe) and on reaching George Westbeech's store at Pandamatenga left their animals there, safe from the lethal bite of the tsetse fly, and walked the remaining 80 kilometers, due north to the Falls.

With the conflict in South Africa finally resolved and the region politically more stable, tourism is developing rapidly. New activities are constantly emerging and the industry is becoming more and more sophisticated. Rafting the wild rapids below the Falls was the first innovation more than ten years ago.

Now the list of organized, commercial activities has expanded dramatically. Visitors can kayak, canoe, fish, go on guided walking safaris, ride on horseback, lunch on Livingstone's Island and in addition to the well-known "Flight of Angels", for the more adventurous there is micro lighting with stunning views of the Falls.

Sunday, October 29, 2006

About Giza

The Great pyramid was 145.75 m (481 ft) high. Over the years, it lost 10 m (30 ft) off its top. It ranked as the tallest structure on Earth for more than 43 centuries, only to be surpassed in height in the nineteenth century AD. It was covered with a casing of stones to smooth its surface (some of the casing can still be seen near the top of Khefre's pyramid). The sloping angle of its sides is 51 degrees and 51 minutes. Each side is carefully oriented with one of the cardinal points of the compass, that is, north, south, east, and west. The horizontal cross section of the pyramid is square at any level, with each side measuring 229 m (751 ft) in length. The maximum error between side lengths is astonishingly less than 0.1%.

The structure consists of approximately 2 million blocks of stone, each weighing more than two tons. It has been suggested that there are enough blocks in the three pyramids to build a 3 m (10 ft) high, 0.3 m (1 ft) thick wall around France. The area covered by the Great pyramid can accommodate St Peter's in Rome, the cathedrals of Florence and Milan, and Westminster and St Paul's in London combined.

On the north face, is the pyramid's entrance. A number of corridors, galleries, and escape shafts either lead to the King's burial chamber, or were intended to serve other functions. The King's chamber is located at the heart of the pyramid, only accessible through the Great Gallery and an ascending corridor. The King's sarcophagus is made of red granite, as are the interior walls of the King's Chamber. Most impressive is the sharp-edged stone over the doorway which is over 3 m (10 ft) long, 2.4 m (8 feet) high and 1.3 m (4 ft) thick. All of the interior stones fit so well, a card won't fit between them. The sarcophagus is oriented in accordance with the compass directions, and is only about 1 cm smaller in dimensions than the chamber entrance. It might have been introduced as the structure was progressing.

Sunday, October 15, 2006

Occurrence of dengue

Dengue viruses occur in most tropical areas of the world. Dengue is common in Africa, Asia, the Pacific, Australia, and the Americas. It is widespread in the Caribbean basin. Dengue is most common in cities but can be found in rural areas. It is rarely found in mountainous areas above 4,000 feet.

The mosquitoes that transmit dengue live among humans and breed in discarded tires, flower pots, old oil drums, and water storage containers close to human dwellings. Unlike the mosquitoes that cause malaria, dengue mosquitoes bite during the day.

Saturday, September 09, 2006

M-Audio
M-Audio is a business unit of Avid Technology, is a manufacturer of a variety of digital audio workstation interfaces, keyboard MIDI controllers, condenser microphones, and studio monitors, among other products. M-Audio is a leading provider of creative tools for computer-centric musicians and audio professionals. Founded in 1988, the Company now has independent offices in the US, Canada, UK, Germany, France and Japan.

M-Audio’s Pro Tools M-Powered 7 features the same user interface as Pro Tools and Pro Tools LE, yet it offers an expanded choice of hardware options with nearly 20 supported M-Audio interfaces. M-Audio's interfaces are the only devices not made by Digidesign that can operate with Pro Tools. Session compatibility with all current versions of Pro Tools software means that projects can easily be moved between pro, project and mobile personal studios.

Monday, August 21, 2006

The Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola) is a small sea duck of the genus Bucephala, the goldeneyes. They are 32-39 cm long, with the drakes larger than the females.
Adult males have a dark head with a large white cap behind the eye and a mainly white body with a black back. Adult females have a brown head with a smaller white patch behind the eye and a mainly brown body.
Bufflehead (female) their breeding habitat is wooded lakes and ponds in Alaska and Canada. They nest in cavities in trees, often using old Flicker nests.
They are migratory and most winter in protected coastal waters or open inland waters on the east and west coasts of North America and the southern United States. Bufflehead is an extremely rare vagrant to Western Europe.
These diving birds forage underwater. They eat aquatic insects, crustaceans and plants.
Buffleheads do not tend not to collect in large flocks; groups are usually limited to small numbers (less than 10).

Friday, August 04, 2006

Language
A language is a system of arbitrary signals, such as voice sounds, gestures or written symbols which communicate thoughts or feelings.Human spoken and written languages can be described as a system of symbols and the grammars by which the symbols are manipulated. The word "language" is also used to refer to common properties of languages and to communicate to other person.
Language learning is normal in human childhood. Most human languages use patterns of sound or gesture for symbols which enable communication with others around them. There are thousands of human languages, and these seem to share certain properties,feelings even though many shared properties have exceptions.

There is no defined line between a language and a dialougue, but Max Weinreich is credited as saying that "a language is a dialect with an army and a navy;" in other words, the distinction between a language and a dialect of a language is as much due to political divisions as it is because of cultural differences, distinctive writing systems, or mutual intelligibility.

Saturday, July 15, 2006

Culture
The culture of India is one of the oldest country in the world.India has managed to preserve its culture and traditions throughout various eras of history and all the while absorbing customs, traditions and ideas from both invaders and immigrants. Many cultural practices,languages, customs and monuments are examples of this co-mingling over centuries.

It is to be noted that in modern India, there is remarkable cultural diversity throughout the indian country. This cultural melting pot, comprising the various regions of India, namely South, North, and North-East, have their own distinct identities and almost every state has carved out its own cultural niche. In spite of this unique cultural diversity, the whole country is bound as a indian civilization due to its common history, thereby preserving the national identity.

The Indian culture also has had a considerable influence and flow of ideas from Persian, Arabic, Turkish, and European cultures. The various religions and the multiple traditions of India have had an impact on South East Asia, China and beyond. India was the birth place of many major religious systems such as Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism and Jainism, which have a strong prevalence and influence not only in India, but also the whole world.