Search Results for “feed” – Page 9

Search Results for: feed

Hiring A Stump Remover Helps Prevent Termites

Posted on February 25, 2018February 25, 2018 by

Here’s An Opinion On:
Marc Ching

byAlma Abell

Termites cause billions of dollars in damages to American home and business owners each year. Help make it harder for termites by hiring a professional Stump Remover to get rid of all old tree stumps.

About Subterranean Termites

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9Fyey4D5hg[/youtube]

Subterranean termites get their name because they live in huge colonies underground. They even make mud tunnels with a combination of dirt and termite spit so they do not have to work in the full glare of the sun. Subterranean termites go through all this effort because they have soft bodies that soon dry up when exposed to direct sunlight. Because they remain hidden underground and in mud trails, it is difficult to see any termites until extensive damage has been done.

How Termites Get Food

Termites eat anything that contains cellulose, such as in wood, paper, plywood and many building materials. Rotting wood leaches chemicals in the soil that act like red blinking neon signs for hungry termites. The colony sends out scouts to find these chemicals and check out the food supply. Even after a source of food is discovered, such as a tree stump, scouts are constantly on the move to find more food for a ravenous colony. They wander many yards to discover any other rich sources of cellulose like fencing, outbuildings or houses.

Do Not Leave Out For Termites

Leaving old tree stumps in the ground and not expecting termites to arrive is like setting out a big plate of dog food every night and not expecting to find dogs on the property soon afterwards. Sooner or later a termite scout will scent the rotting wood and bring the colony to feast. Getting rid of tree stumps entirely leaves the termites with nothing to eat and no reason to hang around a particular piece of property.

In Summary

Subteranean termite scouts travel up to 300 feet from their colonies searching for food. Since termites are blind, they search by smell. Rotting wood from tree stumps sends out particular smells attractive to termite scouts. Hire a Stump Remover service such as Jose Martinez Tree Service Inc. as soon as possible to prevent pests like termites from making a meal of the yard and home. You can also connect them on Facebook.

Geneticists produce laser-activated killer mice

" />

Geneticists produce laser-activated killer mice

Posted on February 13, 2018February 13, 2018 by

Sunday, January 15, 2017

In research released on Thursday in Cell, scientists from Yale University report they managed to trigger instinctive hunting behavior in mice using optogenetics, a manner of priming cells within an organism’s brain to switch on when exposed to a laser.

The research team used an engineered virus to target and alter specific sets of neurons. Then they fitted the mice with intracranial optical fibers so they could expose their brains to blue light at will. The system excited two different sets of neurons, both located in the amygdala, which is the part of the brain associated with emotion and aggression. One set stimulated prey pursuit behavior, such as stalking, and the other stimulated the animal to use its jaw and neck muscles. When exposed to the laser, the primed mice would first stalk and then pounce on and bite any object in their enclosure, even objects without any food scent or prey value, like sticks and bottle caps.

“We’d turn the laser on and they’d jump on an object, hold it with their paws and intensively bite it as if they were trying to capture and kill it,” says lead investigator and Yale Associated Professor of Psychiatry Ivan de Araujo. The mice behaved normally at all other times.

The work was inspired by Araujo’s desire to study natural feeding behavior, as opposed to animals passively munching on food pellets. The study covered many parts of the brain already known to be associated with feeding, and the results suggested some areas are associated with both hunting and feeding and others only with just one behavior. Stimulation of the periaqueductal gray (PAG) portion of the brain controlled stalking and stimulation of the reticular formation controlled biting. The researchers say this shows the amygdala is likely to control hunting and biting behavior across many or all jawed vertebrates. The experiments were funded by national research organizations in the United States and China and the government of Brazil.

The findings inspired comparisons by the research team and the press to zombies from The Walking Dead, especially since the behavior was more pronounced when the animals were hungry. Researchers noted the subjects did not attack any of the other mice. The scientists say this shows they were stimulating predatory behavior specifically and not making the animals generally more angry or aggressive.

However, the study did not state whether the laser resembled the light of a full moon.

The Pros And Cons Of A Thread Lift}

Posted on February 10, 2018January 31, 2019 by

Submitted by: Rena Graham

Gravity is one of the biggest factors that make aging all the more apparent. Over time your skin and other muscles sag making you appear tired and worn out. Since a lot of us dont want the years and stress to take over our face, hence the deluge of numerous beauty products and facial enhancing surgeries. One particular procedure that has caught the attention of many who are suffering from premature lines and wrinkles is the thread lift. But before you jump in the band wagon let me take you through the pros and cons of this procedure to give you an objective decision.

Thread Lift Pros

One major advantage with a thread lift procedure is that it is a less invasive option compared to the conventional face lift.

This is also known as the scarless or lunchtime face lift because from the fact that it doesnt require any incisions it can also be done within 45 minutes to an hour at most.

This is a generally safe procedure with the special barbed thread or suture used approved by FDA standards.

It improves facial contour and appearance without the length of downtime associated with the traditional procedure.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKAzVC0WcmI[/youtube]

It can be done on areas such as those near the eyes, eyebrows, cheeks, frown lines, jowl lines, marionette lines, and the neck as well. In addition to that it gives the face a plumper appearance, making it look youthful.

Since this is a minimally invasive procedure you do not need any general anesthesia. A face lift procedure can be done through local anesthesia and light sedation.

The patient can watch the procedure with a mirror so that they may also see how the results are coming along. Through this, they can also give immediate feedback and will guide the surgeon better on the outcome that you want.

Thread Lift Cons

The thread lift only provides minimal change compared to the traditional face lift procedure. So for those who need an extensive amount of work done, especially among older individuals, you may need to choose the more radical conventional method.

This is only best for those within the age group of 35-55 years old, where the initial signs of aging appear.

One disadvantage that this procedure has is the length of time that it takes effect. There have been reports that it only lasts for a couple of months therefore needing a touch procedure every now and then.

Thread lifts is also on the pricey side, with clinics charging per thread and another charge for the physicians fee for each insertion.

Since anyone with a medical license can perform this cosmetic procedure it increases the likelihood of many offering services that have very poor quality. A thread lift should be done with someone who has the skills and expertise in maneuvering the delicate anatomy of the face to render excellent results with fewer risks.

If poorly done the thread may become visible or pop out of the skin. Sometimes thread breakage could also occur.

About the Author: At Esteem Cosmetic Studio, our surgeons are trained and experienced in performing delicate cosmetic surgery such as

thread lift procedure

. We use only the finest materials to safely and effectively erase years off your face. For more information on various

cosmetic surgery procedures in Australia

, you can visit our clinic located in Brisbane, Canberra and Sydney and arranged for payment plan.

Source:

isnare.com

Permanent Link:

isnare.com/?aid=1220966&ca=Aging}

St. Anthony Foundation provides hope

" />

St. Anthony Foundation provides hope

Posted on February 9, 2018February 9, 2018 by

Friday, September 23, 2005

On the corner of Golden Gate Ave. and Jones St. in the Tenderloin, San Francisco, right next to the Civic Center you can see a throng of low-income and homeless people lining up outside of St. Anthony’s Dining Room hall which opens up it’s doors everyday at 11:30 a.m. Volunteers dressed in St. Anthony Foundation shirts help keep the lines moving as hundreds of homeless and low income people shuffle their way towards the dining hall underneath the watchful eyes of a small statue of St. Francis of Assisi.

“There’s a lot of people who go hungry out here and it ain’t right.” says Jimmy Scott, a slightly brawny 44-year-old black man who has been living homeless in San Francisco for the past three years. “There are families out here with kids and everything and they have to walk around all night just to stay awake so they don’t get hurt or killed…Right here in the U.S. this is going on…it ain’t right.”

The dining hall, which has been open for the past 54 years, is owned by the St. Anthony Foundation which helps low income and homeless people and families in the Civic Center, Tenderloin, and SOMA areas with clothing, shelter, food, drug rehabilitation, and many other services. St. Anthony’s administrative offices are found at 121 Golden Gate Ave. with the majority of the foundation’s buildings on Golden Gate Ave. and Jones St.

“We are right in the heart of the homeless population of San Francisco,” says Barry Stenger, 55, who’s been working for the St. Anthony Foundation for one year, and is the Director of Development and Communications, “and people are pushed here because of the economic forces of San Francisco because it’s hard to be upper middle class in San Francisco.”

According to the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, “San Francisco’s cost of living remains one of the highest in the country” with the average household income in San Francisco being around $76,400 and the average price of housing being $543,000. Average household income for the United States in 2002, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, was $42,409 and the average price of housing for the United States according to the National Association of Realtors was $185,200 in 2004.

“We served our 32 millionth meal on Tuesday,” said Stenger, “and we serve 2,500 meals a day. Some of our people who work here actually get served [food] here because they spend all their money towards rent and medical costs.”

The St. Anthony Foundation was started by Fr. Alfred Boeddeker in 1950 one year after Fr. Boeddeker became pastor of St. Boniface church on Golden Gate St. where he was baptized as a child. During his lifetime, according to the foundation’s website, he was referred to as the “Patron St. of the Tenderloin” and had Boeddeker park named after him because of his, and his foundation’s, achievements with helping out the homeless and low income community.

“[St. Anthony’s] is a good thing,” said Jimmy Scott, “they provide a good service and they feed people and they clothe them and provide furniture when you get housing and give you groceries when you have AIDS. It’s a good little organization.”

“Our dining room is open 365 days a year.” Said Stenger. “Our other facilities are open seven days a week. We have a residence for senior women and our [free medical] clinic is open five days a week and we also have a furniture and clothing store. We have 12 programs all together.”

Some of those programs are the Father Alfred Center which provides 61 men two programs for getting out of drug and alcohol abuse, the Employment Program/Learning Center which helps participants in educational and employment opportunities and provides each one with a personal staff advisor, and a Senior Outreach and Support Services center which states its mission is to “promote independence, self determination, and alleviate isolation” for seniors who are 60 and older.

A few homeless people who were interviewed complained that St. Anthony’s had some staff who were rude and that they were kicked out of the dining hall; other homeless within the area refuted those claims saying St. Anthony’s has nice staff and only kicks people out who cause trouble.

“It’s a good place and good people. Everybody is so kind and so respectful and everything is under control.” Said John Henderson, a tall and skinny 57-year-old homeless black man who has only been living in San Francisco for close to two months because he recently moved there from Phoenix, Arizona. “It’s pretty cool because they’re under control because yesterday I saw at Glide [Memorial Church which also has services for the poor and low income] and they were handing out food boxes and people were just rushing in and the woman in charge there was freaking out and so she just sat down. That would never happen at St. Anthony’s.”

“And they clean too!” Henderson said laughing with a grin on his face referring to the fact that there are no drugs allowed in the premises. “Not that Glide ain’t clean if you know what I mean.”

“We [also] have a whole division that deals with justice education and advocacy to change the system that brings people to our doorstep.” Said Stenger. “We hear a lot of appreciation from the people we serve. We get a lot of testimony from our clients who have become clean and sober. Sometimes we have to push them a little to get them out the door because they love the [foundation] so much because it has changed their lives.”

This article features first-hand journalism by Wikinews members. See the collaboration page for more details.

Bat for Lashes plays the Bowery Ballroom: an Interview with Natasha Khan

Posted on December 22, 2017December 22, 2017 by

Friday, September 28, 2007

Bat for Lashes is the doppelgänger band ego of one of the leading millennial lights in British music, Natasha Khan. Caroline Weeks, Abi Fry and Lizzy Carey comprise the aurora borealis that backs this haunting, shimmering zither and glockenspiel peacock, and the only complaint coming from the audience at the Bowery Ballroom last Tuesday was that they could not camp out all night underneath these celestial bodies.

We live in the age of the lazy tendency to categorize the work of one artist against another, and Khan has had endless exultations as the next Björk and Kate Bush; Sixousie Sioux, Stevie Nicks, Sinead O’Connor, the list goes on until it is almost meaningless as comparison does little justice to the sound and vision of the band. “I think Bat For Lashes are beyond a trend or fashion band,” said Jefferson Hack, publisher of Dazed & Confused magazine. “[Khan] has an ancient power…she is in part shamanic.” She describes her aesthetic as “powerful women with a cosmic edge” as seen in Jane Birkin, Nico and Cleopatra. And these women are being heard. “I love the harpsichord and the sexual ghost voices and bowed saws,” said Radiohead‘s Thom Yorke of the track Horse and I. “This song seems to come from the world of Grimm’s fairytales.”

Bat’s debut album, Fur And Gold, was nominated for the 2007 Mercury Prize, and they were seen as the dark horse favorite until it was announced Klaxons had won. Even Ladbrokes, the largest gambling company in the United Kingdom, had put their money on Bat for Lashes. “It was a surprise that Klaxons won,” said Khan, “but I think everyone up for the award is brilliant and would have deserved to win.”

Natasha recently spoke with David Shankbone about art, transvestism and drug use in the music business.

DS: Do you have any favorite books?

NK: [Laughs] I’m not the best about finishing books. What I usually do is I will get into a book for a period of time, and then I will dip into it and get the inspiration and transformation in my mind that I need, and then put it away and come back to it. But I have a select rotation of cool books, like Women Who Run With the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estés and Little Birds by Anaïs Nin. Recently, Catching the Big Fish by David Lynch.

DS: Lynch just came out with a movie last year called Inland Empire. I interviewed John Vanderslice last night at the Bowery Ballroom and he raved about it!

NK: I haven’t seen it yet!

DS: Do you notice a difference between playing in front of British and American audiences?

NK: The U.S. audiences are much more full of expression and noises and jubilation. They are like, “Welcome to New York, Baby!” “You’re Awesome!” and stuff like that. Whereas in England they tend to be a lot more reserved. Well, the English are, but it is such a diverse culture you will get the Spanish and Italian gay guys at the front who are going crazy. I definitely think in America they are much more open and there is more excitement, which is really cool.

DS: How many instruments do you play and, please, include the glockenspiel in that number.

NK: [Laughs] I think the number is limitless, hopefully. I try my hand at anything I can contribute; I only just picked up the bass, really—

DS: –I have a great photo of you playing the bass.

NK: I don’t think I’m very good…

DS: You look cool with it!

NK: [Laughs] Fine. The glockenspiel…piano, mainly, and also the harp. Guitar, I like playing percussion and drumming. I usually speak with all my drummers so that I write my songs with them in mind, and we’ll have bass sounds, choir sounds, and then you can multi-task with all these orchestral sounds. Through the magic medium of technology I can play all kinds of sounds, double bass and stuff.

DS: Do you design your own clothes?

NK: All four of us girls love vintage shopping and charity shops. We don’t have a stylist who tells us what to wear, it’s all very much our own natural styles coming through. And for me, personally, I like to wear jewelery. On the night of the New York show that top I was wearing was made especially for me as a gift by these New York designers called Pepper + Pistol. And there’s also my boyfriend, who is an amazing musician—

DS: —that’s Will Lemon from Moon and Moon, right? There is such good buzz about them here in New York.

NK: Yes! They have an album coming out in February and it will fucking blow your mind! I think you would love it, it’s an incredible masterpiece. It’s really exciting, I’m hoping we can do a crazy double unfolding caravan show, the Bat for Lashes album and the new Moon and Moon album: that would be really theatrical and amazing! Will prints a lot of my T-shirts because he does amazing tapestries and silkscreen printing on clothes. When we play there’s a velvety kind of tapestry on the keyboard table that he made. So I wear a lot of his things, thrift store stuff, old bits of jewelry and antique pieces.

DS: You are often compared to Björk and Kate Bush; do those constant comparisons tend to bother you as an artist who is trying to define herself on her own terms?

NK: No, I mean, I guess that in the past it bothered me, but now I just feel really confident and sure that as time goes on my musical style and my writing is taking a pace of its own, and I think in time the music will speak for itself and people will see that I’m obviously doing something different. Those women are fantastic, strong, risk-taking artists—

DS: —as are you—

NK: —thank you, and that’s a great tradition to be part of, and when I look at artists like Björk and Kate Bush, I think of them as being like older sisters that have come before; they are kind of like an amazing support network that comes with me.

DS: I’d imagine it’s preferable to be considered the next Björk or Kate Bush instead of the next Britney.

NK: [Laughs] Totally! Exactly! I mean, could you imagine—oh, no I’m not going to try to offend anyone now! [Laughs] Let’s leave it there.

DS: Does music feed your artwork, or does you artwork feed your music more? Or is the relationship completely symbiotic?

NK: I think it’s pretty back-and-forth. I think when I have blocks in either of those area, I tend to emphasize the other. If I’m finding it really difficult to write something I know that I need to go investigate it in a more visual way, and I’ll start to gather images and take photographs and make notes and make collages and start looking to photographers and filmmakers to give me a more grounded sense of the place that I’m writing about, whether it’s in my imagination or in the characters. Whenever I’m writing music it’s a very visual place in my mind. It has a location full of characters and colors and landscapes, so those two things really compliment each other, and they help the other one to blossom and support the other. They are like brother and sister.

DS: When you are composing music, do you see notes and words as colors and images in your mind, and then you put those down on paper?

NK: Yes. When I’m writing songs, especially lately because I think the next album has a fairly strong concept behind it and I’m writing the songs, really imagining them, so I’m very immersed into the concept of the album and the story that is there through the album. It’s the same as when I’m playing live, I will imagine I see a forest of pine trees and sky all around me and the audience, and it really helps me. Or I’ll just imagine midnight blue and emerald green, those kind of Eighties colors, and they help me.

DS: Is it always pine trees that you see?

NK: Yes, pine trees and sky, I guess.

DS: What things in nature inspire you?

NK: I feel drained thematically if I’m in the city too long. I think that when I’m in nature—for example, I went to Big Sur last year on a road trip and just looking up and seeing dark shadows of trees and starry skies really gets me and makes me feel happy. I would sit right by the sea, and any time I have been a bit stuck I will go for a long walk along the ocean and it’s just really good to see vast horizons, I think, and epic, huge, all-encompassing visions of nature really humble you and give you a good sense of perspective and the fact that you are just a small particle of energy that is vibrating along with everything else. That really helps.

DS: Are there man-made things that inspire you?

NK: Things that are more cultural, like open air cinemas, old Peruvian flats and the Chelsea Hotel. Funny old drag queen karaoke bars…

DS: I photographed some of the famous drag queens here in New York. They are just such great creatures to photograph; they will do just about anything for the camera. I photographed a famous drag queen named Miss Understood who is the emcee at a drag queen restaurant here named Lucky Cheng’s. We were out in front of Lucky Cheng’s taking photographs and a bus was coming down First Avenue, and I said, “Go out and stop that bus!” and she did! It’s an amazing shot.

NK: Oh. My. God.

DS: If you go on her Wikipedia article it’s there.

NK: That’s so cool. I’m really getting into that whole psychedelic sixties and seventies Paris Is Burning and Jack Smith and the Destruction of Atlantis. Things like The Cockettes. There seems to be a bit of a revolution coming through that kind of psychedelic drag queen theater.

DS: There are just so few areas left where there is natural edge and art that is not contrived. It’s taking a contrived thing like changing your gender, but in the backdrop of how that is still so socially unacceptable.

NK: Yeah, the theatrics and creativity that go into that really get me. I’m thinking about The Fisher King…do you know that drag queen in The Fisher King? There’s this really bad and amazing drag queen guy in it who is so vulnerable and sensitive. He sings these amazing songs but he has this really terrible drug problem, I think, or maybe it’s a drink problem. It’s so bordering on the line between fabulous and those people you see who are so in love with the idea of beauty and elevation and the glitz and the glamor of love and beauty, but then there’s this really dark, tragic side. It’s presented together in this confusing and bewildering way, and it always just gets to me. I find it really intriguing.

DS: How are you received in the Pakistani community?

NK: [Laughs] I have absolutely no idea! You should probably ask another question, because I have no idea. I don’t have contact with that side of my family anymore.

DS: When you see artists like Pete Doherty or Amy Winehouse out on these suicidal binges of drug use, what do you think as a musician? What do you get from what you see them go through in their personal lives and with their music?

NK: It’s difficult. The drugs thing was never important to me, it was the music and expression and the way he delivered his music, and I think there’s a strange kind of romantic delusion in the media, and the music media especially, where they are obsessed with people who have terrible drug problems. I think that’s always been the way, though, since Billie Holiday. The thing that I’m questioning now is that it seems now the celebrity angle means that the lifestyle takes over from the actual music. In the past people who had musical genius, unfortunately their personal lives came into play, but maybe that added a level of romance, which I think is pretty uncool, but, whatever. I think that as long as the lifestyle doesn’t precede the talent and the music, that’s okay, but it always feels uncomfortable for me when people’s music goes really far and if you took away the hysteria and propaganda of it, would the music still stand up? That’s my question. Just for me, I’m just glad I don’t do heavy drugs and I don’t have that kind of problem, thank God. I feel that’s a responsibility you have, to present that there’s a power in integrity and strength and in the lifestyle that comes from self-love and assuredness and positivity. I think there’s a real big place for that, but it doesn’t really get as much of that “Rock n’ Roll” play or whatever.

DS: Is it difficult to come to the United States to play considering all the wars we start?

NK: As an English person I feel equally as responsible for that kind of shit. I think it is a collective consciousness that allows violence and those kinds of things to continue, and I think that our governments should be ashamed of themselves. But at the same time, it’s a responsibility of all of our countries, no matter where you are in the world to promote a peaceful lifestyle and not to consciously allow these conflicts to continue. At the same time, I find it difficult to judge because I think that the world is full of shades of light and dark, from spectrums of pure light and pure darkness, and that’s the way human nature and nature itself has always been. It’s difficult, but it’s just a process, and it’s the big creature that’s the world; humankind is a big creature that is learning all the time. And we have to go through these processes of learning to see what is right.