Happy Hijabi's Journal:

12:13AM - Sia - Breathe Me

5:30AM - Natalie Merchant - My Skin

Lyrics...

~Natalie Merchant: My Skin~

Take a look at my body
Look at my hands
There's so much here
That I don't understand

Your face saving promises
Whispered like prayers
I don't need them

I've been treated so wrong
I've been treated so long
As if I'm becoming untouchable

Contempt loves the silence
It thrives in the dark
With fine winding tendrils
That strangle the heart

They say that promises
Sweeten the blow
But I don't need them
No, I don't need them
( Read more... )

5:21AM - Slow Dance

Have you ever
watched kids
on a merry-go-round?

Or listened to
the rain slapping on the ground?

Ever followed a
butterfly's erratic flight?

Or gazed at the sun into the
fading night?

You better slow down.

Don't dance so fast.

Time is short.

The music won't
last.

( Read more... )

9:17PM - Ophelia by Natalie Merchant

"Ophelia" by Natalie Merchant:
( Read more... )

4:46PM - Experts: Mild swine flu could quickly turn deadly

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090505/ap_on_re_us/med_swine_flu_virus_evolution;_ylt=AoWsSw3feEPlFLYNskAaJF1H2ocA;_ylu=X3oDMTMwYWNlYzNvBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMDkwNTA1L21lZF9zd2luZV9mbHVfdmlydXNfZXZvbHV0aW9uBGNwb3MDNQRwb3MDNQRzZWMDeW5fdG9wX3N0b3JpZXMEc2xrA2V4cGVydHNtaWxkcw--

By SETH BORENSTEIN, AP Science Writer Seth Borenstein, Ap Science Writer – 1 hr 35 mins ago

WASHINGTON – A flu virus is a powerhouse of evolution, mutating at the maximum speed nature allows. A mild virus can morph into a killer and vice versa.

One change already made this year's swine flu more of a problem, helping it spread more easily among people. The big question is: What mutations are next? That's why scientists are watching it so closely.

"There are no rules to flu viruses; they are just so mutable," said Dr. Paul Glezen, a flu epidemiologist at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. "The fact that it changes all the time really confounds our efforts to control it."

Think of flu's evolution like a family tree: In the current flu's distant ancestry are last century's three pandemics. But its more immediate relatives are swine flu strains that were no big deal to humans.

The good news right now is that this flu has lost some of the most dangerous genetic traits of past pandemics. The bad news is that it's gained something its parents didn't have: the ability to spread from human to human.

Flu reproduces about every eight hours, said Dr. Raul Rabadan, professor of computational biology at Columbia University. That means this morning's flu is a parent by the afternoon, a grandparent by the evening, and a great-grandparent by the next day.

Instead of complex double-helix DNA — nature's basic biological instruction book — flu has a simpler, single strand of genetic code. Normal DNA has a spellcheck-like system that reduces mistakes in replicating the code; the flu virus does not. So mutations come more often. If the mutations are good for the virus, they multiply, and voila, you have a new and sometimes nastier flu.

Scientists are trying to piece together swine flu's ever-changing genome, its genetic ancestors and the random mutations that in this instance turned a simple pig disease into something that scares billions.

They also don't know how the virus is going to mutate next.

In the world's most devastating global flu epidemic in 1918, the first wave of cases in the spring were mild. Then, the virus evolved and came back in the fall as a strain that proved truly deadly, flu experts say. So scientists today are watching to see if that could happen again.

Also troubling is the possibility that this virus could develop resistance to anti-flu drugs, and flu trackers are watching for such changes, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention flu chief Dr. Nancy Cox said.( Read more... )

4:45PM - Texas confirms first flu death of US resident

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090505/ap_on_re_us/us_swine_flu_texas

McALLEN, Texas – Texas health officials have confirmed the first death of a United States resident with swine flu.

Few details were immediately released. But health officials say the patient who died earlier this week was a woman in her 30s who lived in Cameron County, along the U.S.-Mexico border. Carrie Williams, spokeswoman with the Texas Department of State Health Services, said Tuesday the woman had other, chronic health problems, but didn't offer specifics.

Last week, a boy from Mexico City died at a Houston hospital, marking the first swine flu death in the United States.

5:09PM - Cake Wrecks... Hehehehe

http://www.cakewrecks.blogspot.com/

12:22AM

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”
-Winston Churchill

"When it is dark enough, you can see the stars."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Kites rise highest against the wind - not with it."
-Winston Churchill

Sooo true:

"When I look back on all these worries, I remember the story of the old man who said on his deathbed that he had had a lot of trouble in his life, most of which had never happened."
-Winston Churchill

7:43PM - A New Day

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEjeItYtioE

A new day, oh..oh..
A new day, oh..oh..
I was waiting for so long
For a miracle to come
Everyone told me to be strong
Hold on and don't shed a tear

Through the darkness and good times
I knew I'd make it through
And the world thought I had it all
But I was waiting for you

Hush, now

I see a light in the sky
Oh, it's almost blinding me
I can't believe
I've been touched by an angel with love

Let the rain come down and wash away my tears
Let it fill my soul and drown my fears
Let it shatter the walls for a new sun

A new day has... come

Oh...

Where it was dark now there's light
Where there was pain now there's joy
Where there was weakness, I found my strength
All in the eyes of a boy

( Read more... )

11:47PM - The CIA's $1,000 a Day Specialists on Waterboarding, Interrogations

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=7471217&page=1

11:25PM - Dr. Tim Johnson: Swine Flu not lethal in current form

ABC's medical expert says virus is missing amino acid found in deadly strains:

http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=13247273&ch=4226713&src=news

6:45PM - Flu talk...

http://www.pandemicflu.gov/general/historicaloverview.html

This makes me feel so much better :

1918: Spanish Flu

The Spanish Influenza pandemic is the catastrophe against which all modern pandemics are measured. It is estimated that approximately 20 to 40 percent of the worldwide population became ill and that over 50 million people died. Between September 1918 and April 1919, approximately 675,000 deaths from the flu occurred in the U.S. alone. Many people died from this very quickly. Some people who felt well in the morning became sick by noon, and were dead by nightfall. Those who did not succumb to the disease within the first few days often died of complications from the flu (such as pneumonia) caused by bacteria.

One of the most unusual aspects of the Spanish flu was its ability to kill young adults. The reasons for this remain uncertain. With the Spanish flu, mortality rates were high among healthy adults as well as the usual high-risk groups. The attack rate and mortality was highest among adults 20 to 50 years old. The severity of that virus has not been seen again.

8:58PM - Hypoxic Brain Injury Treatment Rehabilitation, Hypoxia Mind Damage

http://brainstimulant.blogspot.com/2008/01/hypoxic-brain-injury.html

Hypoxic brain injury occurs when there is a depletion of brain oxygen levels even though cerebral blood flow is sufficient. This insult can be the result of an accident. It is a must that the mind has enough oxygen levels to function properly. Hypoxic injury is also known as hypoxia. A lack of oxygen in the brain can lead to several bad consequences within just a few minutes. If there is a lack of enough oxygen for a while then it can lead to an alteration in a person's consciousness. Hypoxia for a longer period may lead to a person undergoing brain death, coma, unconsciousness or seizures. Your own brain cells can be very sensitive to undergoing oxygen loss of this nature. Neurons may begin to die if they do not get enough oxygen. This can lead to numerous brain injuries over the course of hypoxia. A person may first need to get a brain scan or neuropsychological test to assess the brain damage and then they may need to undergo brain injury rehab to get treatment for hypoxic brain injury.

In the future, scientists may use stem cells to repair the damage from a hypoxic accident. Japanese scientists have recently created whole brain tissue from stem cells. Stem cells will allow the replacement of a person's damaged brain cells. Magnetic brain stimulation may also be used for brain disorders. These neuro technologies may be able to help many people and allow neuron regeneration. So these rehabilitation treatments will likely get better as time goes forward. Transcranial magnetic stimulation, transcranial direct current stimulation and deep brain stimulation can all affect the brain for beneficial effect.( Read more... )

7:49PM - Ringa Ringa

6:06PM - Researchers find safer way to make stem cells - Subhannallah...

By Ben Hirschler – Sun Mar 1, 1:11 pm ET

LONDON (Reuters) – Researchers said on Sunday they had found a safer way to transform ordinary skin cells into powerful stem cells in a move that could eventually remove the need to use human embryos.

It is the first time that scientists have turned skin cells into induced pluripotent stem cells or iPS cells -- which look and act like embryonic stem cells -- without having to use viruses in the process.

The new method also allows for genes that are inserted to trigger cell reprogramming to be removed afterwards.

Stem cells are the body's master cells, producing all the body's tissues and organs.

Embryonic stem cells are the most powerful kind, as they have the potential to give rise to any tissue type. However, many people object to their use, making iPS cells an attractive alternative, provided they can be made safely.

Researchers have known for some time that ordinary skin cells can be transformed into iPS cells using a handful of genes.

But to get these genes into the cells they have had to use viruses, which integrate their own genetic material into the cells they infect. This can cause cancer.

The alternative approach, described in the online edition of the journal Nature by two teams of researchers from Britain and Canada, appears to avoid the risk of such abnormalities.

( Read more... )

Current mood: hopeful

4:25PM - Within Temptation - Stand my Ground

7:53PM - Writer's Block: Day of German Unity

3:53PM - haitus - for realz :-P

Sorry I am on hiatus - if you need me then leave a message (they are screened) or for those who know email me. :-)

8:39AM

"To be sure, I appear at times merry and in good heart, talk, too, before others quite reasonably, and it looks as if I felt, too, God knows how well within my skin. Yet the soul maintains its deathly sleep and the heart bleeds from a thousand wounds."
~Hugo Wolf

11:41AM - This is sooo obvious

McCain announced his VP, and little is known about her - but I would say it is really really obvious why she was chosen... She is female. Females rock and all (and it is about time they are up higher political positions) - but this makes me dislike McCain all the more. Flashing an attractive woman no one knows anything about from Alaska of all places as your VP nomination should not make you win - grrrr...