Rabu, 05 Juni 2013

Cybernetic Serendipity.

I went to this exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in 1968.
Featuring Bruce Lacey’s ROSA BOSOM with MATE
I remember being pinned against a wall by Bruce Lacey’s ROSA BOSOM with MATE, as I was so short, the robot didn't detect my presence. Happy days! See also http://cyberneticserendipity.net/

The above reminiscence is a ploy to talk about serendipity, or happy accident. See Role of chance in scientific discoveries, and List of discoveries influenced by chance circumstances. Aspartame & saccharin get a mention for being discovered by the accidental tasting of chemicals. But there's more!

According to Sucralose: "Sucralose was discovered in 1976 by scientists from Tate & Lyle, working with researchers Leslie Hough and Shashikant Phadnis at Queen Elizabeth College (now part of King's College London). While researching ways to use sucrose and its synthetic derivatives, Phadnis was told to test a chlorinated sugar compound. Phadnis thought Hough asked him to 'taste' it, so he did. He found the compound to be exceptionally sweet."

Sodium Cyclamate was also discovered by accident. "Cyclamate was discovered in 1937 at the University of Illinois by graduate student Michael Sveda. Sveda was working in the lab on the synthesis of anti-fever medication. He put his cigarette down on the lab bench, and, when he put it back in his mouth, he discovered the sweet taste of cyclamate." Smoking in the lab? Naughty, naughty!

Acesulfame potassium was...yeah you guessed! "After accidentally dipping his fingers into the chemicals that he was working with, Clauss licked them to pick up a piece of paper."

So, be careful out there...but not too careful!

Selasa, 04 Juni 2013

Good criticism, bad criticism.

Yes. I know it's an axe (slang name for guitar). Blame Google Image Search!
From http://scottberkun.com/essays/35-how-to-give-and-receive-criticism/
I wondered from where "Mr Messiah" got his arguments against Vitamin D and calcium supplementation reduces cancer risk: results of a randomized trial. They came from Vitamin D and Cancer Prevention: Strengths and Limits of the Evidence.

"Randomized clinical trials designed to investigate the effects of vitamin D intake on bone health have suggested that higher vitamin D intakes may reduce the risk of cancer. One study involved nearly 1,200 healthy postmenopausal women who took daily supplements of calcium (1,400 mg or 1,500 mg) and vitamin D (25 μg vitamin D, or 1,100 IU―a relatively large dose) or a placebo for 4 years. The women who took the supplements had a 60 percent lower overall incidence of cancer (6); however, the study did not include a vitamin D-only group. Moreover, the primary outcome of the study was fracture incidence; it was not designed to measure cancer incidence. This limits the ability to draw conclusions about the effect of vitamin D intake on cancer risk."

1) The women who took the supplements had a 60 percent lower overall incidence of cancer. Yeah, so? The following result was ignored: When analysis was confined to cancers diagnosed after the first 12 mo, RR for the Ca+D group fell to 0.232 (CI: 0.09, 0.60; P&lt: 0.005). The women who took the supplements had a 77 percent lower overall incidence of cancer, if they didn't already have cancer. Incomplete data dismissed.

2) The study did not include a vitamin D-only group. Yeah, so? It was looking at the effect of Ca+D on cancer risk, not D only. Ca+D greatly reduced cancer risk. Argument dismissed.

3) Moreover, the primary outcome of the study was fracture incidence; it was not designed to measure cancer incidence. Yeah, so? It measured cancer incidence. There's a little clue in the title of the study. Argument dismissed.

4) This limits the ability to draw conclusions about the effect of vitamin D intake on cancer risk. See 1), 2) and 3). Argument dismissed.

Do you get the feeling that someone, somewhere is more interested in collecting loadsa money than trying to reduce cancer risk?

A new skill and whoops there goes another rotator cuff.

I bought this last Thursday...
Yes, I am using a sofa as a guitar stand!
Last Sunday, I took it to an open mic night and played it - very slowly! So far, I've learned the following chords:- C, Dm, Em, F, G & Am. As my fingertips are like cushions (big & soft), I have to finger chords as triads, with my fingers coming down onto the strings nearly vertically, to minimise the area of my fingerprint. Dm is particularly difficult for me. I'm going to learn the CAGED system, so that I can play any chord using any pattern.

Due to the sunny weather, I've been putting the soft top down on my MX-5. Unfortunately, I've been raising it from the driver's seat position. I forgot that this puts enormous strain on my left shoulder. The pain in my left shoulder when I woke this morning reminded me to not do that again!

Minggu, 02 Juni 2013

Another win for brief intense exercise.

One hard 4 minute session seems to have effects similar to 4 x 4minute sessions. The whole study is available and worth looking through:

Low- and High-Volume of Intensive Endurance Training Significantly Improves Maximal Oxygen Uptake after 10-Weeks of Training in Healthy Men


Conclusion
Our study demonstrated that slightly overweight and healthy individuals only required brief, duration bouts of exercise with good effort three times a week, to produce large increases in VO2max and work economy and reduce blood pressure and fasting glucose levels. Additional studies to examine both adaptations at the molecular level and feasibility for public health appear warranted.

 There is a further write up here.

How Can i lose 10 Kilos

how can i lose 10 kilos
How Can i lose 10 Kilos ??

Many people would like they say How Can i lose 10 Kilos . In fact, it's one in every of the foremost common amounts of excess weight that folks from all round the world continue them. nevertheless out of all those folks, not several take the required steps so as to see how can i lose 10 kilos and become utterly lean and match. that is a terrible shame as a result of it's entirely potential to not say how can i lose 10 Kilos during a short amount of your time. folks all round the world dosimply that in nice numbers. So how can i lose 10 Kilos ?? You will know !


I know you like sure foods. i do know it'd be laborious on behalf of me to urge you to relinquish them up. thus i am going to allow you to keep your meals constant. What i would like you to try to do instead is to specialize in your snacks and consumption an apple before 2-3 of your meals.

how can i lose 10 Kilos ? Simple see :

5 minutes before every meal, you eat associate apple. Nothing difficult , content and has five grams . this help fill you .  use this to assist you to naturally eat less of your meals. thos you will not starve. you will be stuffed up whereas still consumption your favorite foods. smart enought ? Is that not fair? you've got to form changes, this is not asking a lot of peapl who say how can i lose 10 kilos !

I want you to focus your efforts on snacking. this is often what journeys up lots of individuals. unhealthy snacking not solely messes you up between meals, however conjointly throughout meals , and then you will see, and not say how can i lose 10 Kilos ? and not say this things is difficult !

To try and shed the remainder of the load that you just would like off, you'll have to be compelled to specialize in high intensity cardio workouts. I conjointly suggest doing strength exercises except for such a brief timeframe, cardio is commonly simpler. However, doing strength exercises and building muscle tissue can assist you maintain this weight so much into the long run thus this is often one thing I leave you to think about.

These square measure my ten tips for this question how can i lose 10 Kilos :

1. suppose semipermanent. Anybody will reduce, however what's things when twelve months? you'll be able to solely regard your try as productive if you've got maintained your lower weight for a minimum of twelve months. don't attempt one thing you can't still do for associate .

2. continue a one-day-ration-diet: prohibit your intake to five hundred calories for only 1 day. only 1 day so back to traditional. invariably follow one ration day with a standard calorie day. ne'er 2 ration days succeeding. other than a ration day once you want it, followed by a standard day. Take a prospect whenever you wish so attempt another ration day. By doing it this fashion, your body won't go in "survival mode", speed your metabolism down and storing everything as fat. you'll bit by bit - however for good - reduce. and get the solution of your question how can i lose 10 kilos !

3. 10 weeks: maintain with these ration days for ten weeks and you will be stunned at the results. I lost ten kilograms this fashion - and haven't gained something during a year's time.

4. someday per week: Once you have reached the load you are glad with, do a ration day one time every week. I like Mondays, since I tends to eat additional and do less over the weekends and eat snacks whereas observance TV."how can i lose 10 Kilos"
 this is often not solely smart for your health normally, however also will keep your weight under control.

5. Avoid artificial stuff. These may work, however I've set to not take any tablets, nor drink any "magic formula". No "fat-burners","how can i lose 10 Kilos"
. No supermolecule "shakes". solely traditional food, no artificial - not even artificial sweeteners.

6. Big volume, low calories: how can i lose 10 Kilos ? The 
Vegetables and dish foods provide you with variant volume, however square measure low on calories. On my ration days I actually have a range of mixtures of slightly cooked vegetables: Cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, inexperienced beans, squash; and recent dish foods: carrots, tomatoes, inexperienced (Bell's) peppers, cucumber, mushrooms and dish. Fruit: solely apple. For supermolecule I invariably have one tin of tuna chunks (in water, salt added, drained 119 gm), and one coddled egg, betting on whether or not I still have calories to spare.

7. Eat throughout the day: E.g.: 9:00 ½ apple; one:00: ½ apple; 13:00: vegetables + ½ tuna; 15:30: vegetables + ½ tuna; 18:00: salads + 1 egg; 20:00: salads. you'll be able to have as several cups of tea/coffee as you wish. The milk for five cups adds concerning 50-70 calories and a few supermolecule similarly.

8. Eat SLOWLY. The longer you're taking consumption your food, the earlier the hunger can disappear.

9. traditional calories days: On your traditional calorie days, don't cherish hi GI foods or fatty meats or eat further with subsequent ration day in mind. Then you would possibly similarly simply ignore losing any weight.

10. Raise your activity level. i am taking part in golf double every week since I started with my weight loss program. Now i Think You Know 
how can i lose 10 Kilos !
                        CLICK HERE THE EBOOK

I see stupid people - Part One: Live to take the p*ss.

This is a take on I See Weak People – Part Three: Live to add, not subtract.
Dunning-Kruger strikes again!
George Henderson recently said in a comment to flip:- "If you're one of the sensible ones, as Nigel seems to think you might be, it's easy to see why he won't post on "that" blog again.
Myself, I wonder how Nigel does it. Everywhere he goes he seems to start a fight these days. We are thinking of locking him inside when we go out in future."

How do I do it? Simples! I make sure that my brain is properly nourished with Vitamin D3 for razor-sharp wit & biting sarcasm, EPA & DHA for stable mood and Magnesium to stay cool, calm and collected when all around me are behaving like complete and utter tosspots & twats (UK usages and not meant affectionately!).

Sabtu, 01 Juni 2013

Metabolic Inflexibility: What it really means.

Here's a picture from Metabolic Flexibility and Insulin Resistance.

The Metabolically-Inflexible (MI) & Insulin Resistance

Here's another picture.
Fig 2. ● = Metabolically-Flexible (MF). ○ = Metabolically-Inflexible (MI).
Salient points:
1) Excess serum FFA a.k.a. NEFA is bad.
2) Respiratory Quotient (RQ) a.k.a. Respiratory Exchange Ratio (RER) changes due to dietary changes are more sluggish in the MI than in the MF.
3) Under Insulin Clamp conditions, RQ/RER is lower in the MI than in the MF, due to impairment of glucose oxidation and non-oxidative glucose disposal.

I have posted this because of Danny Roddy's post Is Supplemental Magnesium A Surrogate For Thyroid Hormone? , which leads onto A Bioenergetic View of High-Fat Diets.

In the first article, Danny Roddy writes:-
"Additionally, taking magnesium while actively engaging in a diet or lifestyle that reduces the respiratory quotient (e.g., high-fat diet, light deficiency, excessive exercise) seems pretty silly. For example, as a rule, diabetics have a reduced respiratory quotient (Simonson DC, et al. 1988), tend to have higher levels of free fatty acids or NEFA (Kahn SE, 2006), and are often deficient in magnesium (De Valk HW, 1999)."

The second sentence (diabetics have a reduced respiratory quotient...and are often deficient in magnesium) seems to contradict the first sentence (...taking magnesium while actively engaging in a diet or lifestyle that reduces the respiratory quotient seems pretty silly).

Simonson DC, et al. 1988 is Oxidative and non-oxidative glucose metabolism in non-obese type 2 (non-insulin-dependent) diabetic patients.
"In conclusion, during the postabsorptive state and under conditions of euglycaemic hyperinsulinaemia, impairment of glucose oxidation and non-oxidative glucose disposal both contribute to the insulin resistance observed in normal weight Type 2 diabetic patients. Since lipid oxidation was normal in this group of diabetic patients, excessive non-esterified fatty acid oxidation cannot explain the defects in glucose disposal."

Impaired glucose oxidation with normal lipid oxidation lowers RQ/RER. Therefore, lower RQ/RER must be bad, right? Wrong. From the above study:-
"...euglycaemic insulin clamp studies were performed..."
Remember Salient point 3)? Simonson DC, et al. 1988 is an insulin clamp study, the results of which don't apply to free-living people (who aren't insulin clamped).

See also Determinants of the variability in respiratory exchange ratio at rest and during exercise in trained athletes. RER/RQ increases & decreases with increases & decreases in exercise intensity. This is Metabolic Flexibility (MF). Sorry, Danny.