Travike's Xanga

Combat in the body

Tue, 09 Sep 2008 12:52:15 GMT

There is no doubt that the environment that we live in is "dirty". Of course, by dirty we mean, filled with the undesirable and harmful. Each day we fight it with antibacterial cleaners, soaps and medicines. The more aware spend countless hours of their lives cleaning their hands and bodies, washing away billions of antigens - bacteria, viruses, protozoa, et ctera. They have an alertness to the thousand-year-old battle that has been going on both within and without the body to "arrest and cure disease," quoting Herlihy(2007).

To understand the body's defense frontlines, one must first understand the components, processes and mechanisms that run and maintain the human immune system. These include the mechanical and chemical barriers, phagocytosis and killer cells, inflammation/fevers, protective proteins and specific immunity. But time and space here does not permit a thorough description of all of these, therefore the focus will be on a few immunity responses - a mosquito bite, a poison ivy reaction, and specific(acquired) immunity.

A lone mosquito finds your arm a tasty treat until your nervous system relates to the brain that there is a cutaneous release of histamine by your mast cells. As soon as you get that message, you look over and slap the irritation. This histamine release is from the mast cells being challenged - in this case by the mosquito's beak and saliva. What actually happens, is that the proteins or polysaccharides within the mosquito's saliva bind with the IgE antibodies, stimulating the mast cells to release various preformed and lipid mediators. The most notable of these chemicals is histamine. Histamine dilates venules, activates the endothelium, and increases blood vessel permeability. What happens next can be seen by the naked eye as swelling, redness and warmth. Of course, the area will itch as well, since all this activity irritates all of the nerve endings nearby, which then tell you to "squash that bug."

Another allergy, known as contact dermititus, can be caused by plants such as poison ivy. This immune system response varies from the previous in that the T-cells are doing the work here. Let's say you brush up against some of that nasty stuff out in the forest. Well, this oil from the plant, called urushiol, rubs off onto your arm. Well, urushiol has an odd property by which it tends to bind to and chemically react with proteins on exposed skin cells. T lymphocytes then begin to attack the affected cells as if those skin cells were not part of the body. The attack is actually directed towards the complexes of urushiol, which since have already reacted with the skin cells, causes swelling, redness, itching, even blisters and vesicles. The good news is, if you don't itch too much or don't have too severe of an allergic reaction, you'll get over it in a week or two. If, perchance, your mast cells release too many of their granules, they may cause massive vasodilation and bronchoconstriction, a severe reaction called anaphylaxis.

Now coming to specific immunity, the body often comes in contact with the same pathogens at various stages in it's life. To protect itself from a recurring illness or attack, our bodies will "remember" those pathogens by means of a specific antibody. We use the word antibody as a simple way to describe immunoglobulins secreted by B lymphocytes. Theses antibodies work by attacking antigen membranes and binding with the antigen, making it much easier for phagocytic cells(including macrophages) to destroy the antigen. They also secrete various complement proteins that facilitate the destruction of pathogens by phagocytes.

2008 Olympics

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 06:07:47 GMT

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Sunday, February 10, 2008

Sun, 10 Feb 2008 00:34:17 GMT

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Thu, 11 Oct 2007 12:30:10 GMT

Changes...

Wed, 15 Aug 2007 04:54:02 GMT

Some have said that it's not a big change, but for me, myself and I, it is.

No, I'm not getting married. Too many people have asked me that since last time I posted.

I'm going to Mahidol University, studying a Bachelor of Science in Biological Science - focus in Biomedicine.

I haven't really studied a lot since I finished high school, 4 years ago, and this will be full-time. Big change.

Flying Saucers 4 Sale

Sat, 04 Aug 2007 11:44:43 GMT

Yes!!!

I have been waiting for this day...

To be certified by FAA before Dec 2008

The weird thing is, they have been around for nearly 50 years, but nobody wants to believe it...

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Wed, 18 Jul 2007 04:03:12 GMT

I'm getting ready for some big changes withing the next month... I'll let y'all know as soon as everything is sure.

Other than that I am fine... This last week i had bad tuna or something and got food poisoning. You don't wanna know.

God is still good.

Wednesday, May 09, 2007

Wed, 09 May 2007 04:33:56 GMT

God is sitting in Heaven when a scientist says to Him, “Lord, we
don’t need you anymore. Science has finally figured out a way to
create life out of nothing. In other words, we can now do what
you did in the ‘beginning.’”

“Oh, is that so? Tell me…” replies God.

“Well, ” says the scientist, “we can take dirt and form it into
the likeness of You and breathe life into it, thus creating man.”

“Well, that’s interesting. Show Me.”

So the scientist bends down to the earth and starts to mold the
soil.

“Oh no, no, no…” interrupts God,

(I love this…)

“Get your own dirt.”

Worst Religious Freedom Violators Unchanged

Wed, 09 May 2007 02:39:20 GMT

by Ethan Cole

Christian Post Reporter

Fri, May. 04 2007 08:33 AM ET

WASHINGTON – A new report on the world’s worst religious freedom violators remained primarily unchanged since last year’s recommendation by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.

The commission’s recommendation to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice this year on “countries of particular concern,” or CPC’s, was entirely the same as last year’s list of eleven countries categorized as having governments that engage in or tolerate systematic and egregious violations of religious freedom.

USCIRF’s CPC recommendations for 2006 and 2007 are: Burma, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea), Eritrea, Iran, Pakistan, China, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.

In most of the recommended CPC countries, there is some form of religion or religions allowed by the government. However, the government severely cracks down and persecutes beliefs that are not in line with the permissible faith.

For instance, China’s government officially recognizes a wide range of religion but demands that believers register with the officially sanctioned religious bodies and adhere to the religious laws set by the government. Unregistered Protestant Christians, for example, are imprisoned, abused and harassed while their registered Protestant Christian counterparts for the most part enjoy freedom of worship.

In Saudi Arabia and Burma, the governments support Sunni Islam and Buddhism, respectively, but squashes all other religions.

The Burmese junta has been accused of sending its military and Buddhist monks to tear down churches and crosses and build Buddhist worship structures in their place. Christian women are also reportedly raped by Burmese military with impunity.

Meanwhile, North Korea has a unique situation where there is absolutely no religious freedom or human rights in the country. The government bans all forms of public and private religious activities and promotes a personality cult centered on the late Kim Sung Il and his son Kim Jung Il, who is currently head of the country.

“The issue of religious freedom is now understood to have a profound impact on our own political and national security interests as well as on political stability throughout the world,” said USCIRF Chair Felice D. Gaer, in a statement.

Other countries whose situations have not risen to CPC designation but are on the Commission’s Watch List include: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Cuba, Egypt, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Iraq – which was added to the list this year for close monitoring.

The CPC and Watch List are part of the 2007 Annual Report which was released on May 2 and includes recommendations on U.S. policy for the president, secretary of state, and congress concerning CPC countries and in other nations the United States can help to promote freedom of religion or belief.

from http://www.christianpost.com/article/20070504/27227_Watch_Group:__Worst_Religious_Freedom_Violators_Unchanged.htm

Thailand's royal rainmakers battle drought

Thu, 03 May 2007 13:35:18 GMT

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