Author Archives: ♕maitha ♥™♕

Did you know ?

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Facts about Linux:

– Linux Kernel was written by a 21 year finish college student as a part of his hobby. Yup! His name is Linus Torvalds.

– Torvalds created Linux based on GNU General Public License (GPL). PerhapsTorvalds would have never written his own kernel if GPL would be having it’s own kernel and driver.

– The first major film produced on linux servers was 1997’s Titanic

Say NO to thalasemia

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Thalassemia is a blood disorder passed down through families (inherited) in which the body makes an abnormal form of hemoglobin, the protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen. The disorder results in excessive destruction of red blood cells, which leads to anemia.

Causes, incidence, and risk factors

Hemoglobin is made of two proteins: Alpha globin and beta globin. Thalassemia occurs when there is a defect in a gene that helps control production of one of these proteins.

There are two main types of thalassemia:

  • Alpha thalassemia occurs when a gene or genes related to the alpha globin protein are missing or changed (mutated).

  • Beta thalassemia occurs when similar gene defects affect production of the beta globin protein.

Alpha thalassemias occur most commonly in persons from southeast Asia, the Middle East, China, and in those of African descent.

Beta thalassemias occur in persons of Mediterranean origin, and to a lesser extent, Chinese, other Asians, and African Americans.

There are many forms of thalassemia. Each type has many different subtypes. Both alpha and beta thalassemia include the following two forms:

  • Thalassemia major

  • Thalassemia minor

You must inherit the defective gene from both parents to develop thalassemia major.

Thalassemia minor occurs if you receive the defective gene from only one parent. Persons with this form of the disorder are carriers of the disease and usually do not have symptoms.

Beta thalassemia major is also called Cooley’s anemia.

Risk factors for thalassemia include:

  • Asian, Chinese, Mediterranean, or African American ethnicity

  • Family history of the disorder

  • Symptoms

    The most severe form of alpha thalassemia major causes stillbirth (death of the unborn baby during birth or the late stages of pregnancy).

    Children born with thalessemia major (Cooley’s anemia) are normal at birth, but develop severe anemia during the first year of life.

    Other symptoms can include:

    Persons with the minor form of alpha and beta thalassemia have small red blood cells (which are identified by looking at their red blood cells under a microscope), but no symptoms.

    Signs and tests

    A physical exam may reveal a swollen (enlarged) spleen.

    A blood sample will be taken and sent to a laboratory for examination.

    • Red blood cells will appear small and abnormally shaped when looked at under a microscope.

    • A complete blood count (CBC) reveals anemia.

    • A test called hemoglobin electrophoresis shows the presence of an abnormal form of hemoglobin.

    A test called mutational analysis can help detect alpha thalassemia that cannot be seen with hemoglobin electrophoresis.

    Treatment

    Treatment for thalassemia major often involves regular blood transfusions and folate supplements.

    If you receive blood transfusions, you should not take iron supplements. Doing so can cause a high amount of iron to build up in the body, which can be harmful.

    Persons who receive significant numbers of blood transfusions need a treatment called chelation therapy to remove excess iron from the body.

    A bone marrow transplant may help treat the disease in some patients, especially children.

    Expectations (prognosis)

    Severe thalassemia can cause early death due to heart failure, usually between ages 20 and 30. Getting regular blood transfusions and therapy to remove iron from the body helps improve the outcome.

    Less severe forms of thalassemia usually do not shorten lifespan.

    Genetic counseling and prenatal screening may help people with a family history of this condition who are planning to have children.

    Complications

    Untreated, thalassemia major leads to heart failure and liver problems, and makes a person more likely to develop infections.

    Blood transfusions can help control some symptoms. However, they may result in too much iron, which can damage the heart, liver, and endocrine system.

    Calling your health care provider

    Call for an appointment with your health care provider if:

    • You or your child has symptoms of thalassemia

    • You are being treated for the disorder and new symptoms develop

    • Comment for more
    • AND REMEMBER : Go check before falling prey for thalasemia <3
    • xoxo, maitha

Venice

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File:Photography of Venice at dusk.jpg

Venice (Italian: Venezia [veˈnɛttsja] ( listen),[1] Venetian: Venexia [veˈnɛsja]; (Latin: Venetia)) is a city in northeast Italy sited on a group of 118 small islands separated by canals and linked by bridges.[2] It is located in the marshy Venetian Lagoon which stretches along the shoreline between the mouths of the Po and the Piave Rivers. Venice is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks.[2] The city in its entirety is listed as a World Heritage Site, along with its lagoon.[2]

Venice is the capital of the Veneto region. In 2009, there were 270,098 people residing in Venice’s comune (the population estimate of 272,000 inhabitants includes the population of the whole Comune of Venezia; around 60,000[3] in the historic city of Venice (Centro storico); 176,000 in Terraferma (the Mainland), mostly in the large frazioni of Mestre and Marghera; 31,000 live on other islands in the lagoon). Together with Padua and Treviso, the city is included in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area (PATREVE), with a total population of 1,600,000. PATREVE is only a statistical metropolitan area without degree of autonomy.

The name is derived from the ancient Veneti people who inhabited the region by the 10th century BC.[4][5] The city historically was the capital of the Venetian Republic. Venice has been known as the “La Dominante”, “Serenissima”, “Queen of the Adriatic“, “City of Water”, “City of Masks”, “City of Bridges”, “The Floating City”, and “City of Canals”. Luigi Barzini described it in The New York Times as “undoubtedly the most beautiful city built by man”.[6] Venice has also been described by the Times Online as being one of Europe’s most romantic cities.[7]

The Republic of Venice was a major maritime power during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, and a staging area for the Crusades and the Battle of Lepanto, as well as a very important center of commerce (especially silk, grain, and spice) and art in the 13th century up to the end of the 17th century. This made Venice a wealthy city throughout most of its history.[8] It is also known for its several important artistic movements, especially the Renaissance period. Venice has played an important role in the history of symphonic and operatic music, and it is the birthplace of Antonio Vivaldi.

History

Origins

While there are no historical records that deal directly with the founding of Venice,[9] tradition and the available evidence have led several historians to agree that the original population of Venice consisted of refugees from Roman cities near Venice such as Padua, Aquileia, Treviso, Altino and Concordia (modern Portogruaro) and from the undefended countryside, who were fleeing successive waves of Germanic and Hun invasions.[10] Some late Roman sources reveal the existence of fishermen on the islands in the original marshy lagoons. They were referred to as incolae lacunae (“lagoon dwellers”). The traditional founding is identified with the dedication of the first church, that of San Giacomo at the islet of Rialto (Rivoalto, “High Shore”), which is said to have been at the stroke of noon on 25 March 421.[11][12]

The last and most enduring immigration into the north of the Italian peninsula was that of the Lombards in 568, leaving the Eastern Roman Empire a small strip of coast in the current Veneto, including Venice. The Roman/Byzantine territory was organized as the Exarchate of Ravenna, administered from that ancient port and overseen by a viceroy (the Exarch) appointed by the Emperor in Constantinople, but Ravenna and Venice were connected only by sea routes and with the Venetian’s isolated position came increasing autonomy. New ports were built, including those at Malamocco and Torcello in the Venetian lagoon. The tribuni maiores, the earliest central standing governing committee of the islands in the Lagoon, dated from c. 568.[13]

The traditional first doge of Venice, Paolo Lucio Anafesto, was actually Exarch Paul, and his successor, Marcello Tegalliano, Paul’s magister militum (General; literally, “Master of Soldiers.”) In 726 the soldiers and citizens of the Exarchate rose in a rebellion over the iconoclastic controversy at the urging of Pope Gregory II. The Exarch was murdered and many officials put to flight in the chaos. At about this time, the people of the lagoon elected their own leader for the first time, although the relationship of this ascent to the uprisings is not clear. Ursus would become the first of 117 “doges” (doge is the Venetian dialect development of the Latin dux (“leader”); the corresponding word in English is duke, in standard Italian duce.) Whatever his original views, Ursus supported Emperor Leo‘s successful military expedition to recover Ravenna, sending both men and ships. In recognition, Venice was “granted numerous privileges and concessions” and Ursus, who had personally taken the field, was confirmed by Leo as dux[14] and given the added title of hypatus (Greek for “Consul“.)[15]

In 751, the Lombard King Aistulf conquered most of the Exarchate of Ravenna, leaving Venice a lonely and increasingly autonomous Byzantine outpost. During this period, the seat of the local Byzantine governor (the “duke/dux”, later “doge“), was situated in Malamocco. Settlement on the islands in the lagoon probably increased in correspondence with the Lombard conquest of other Byzantine territories as refugees sought asylum in the lagoon city. In 775/776, the episcopal seat of Olivolo (Helipolis) was created. During the reign of duke Agnello Particiaco (811–827), the ducal seat was moved from Malamocco to the highly protected Rialto, the current location of Venice. The monastery of St. Zachary and the first ducal palace and basilica of St. Mark, as well as a walled defense (civitatis murus) between Olivolo and Rialto, were subsequently built here. Winged lions, which may be seen throughout Venice, are a symbol for St. Mark.

Charlemagne sought to subdue the city to his own rule. He ordered the Pope to expel the Venetians from the Pentapolis along the Adriatic coast,[16] and Charlemagne’s own son Pepin of Italy, king of the Lombards under the authority of his father, embarked on a siege of Venice itself. This, however, proved a costly failure. The siege lasted six months, with Pepin’s army ravaged by the diseases of the local swamps and eventually forced to withdraw. A few months later, Pepin himself died, apparently as a result of a disease contracted there. In the aftermath, an agreement between Charlemagne and Nicephorus in 814 recognized Venice as Byzantine territory and granted the city trading rights along the Adriatic coast.

In 828, the new city’s prestige was raised by the acquisition of the claimed relics of St. Mark the Evangelist from Alexandria, which were placed in the new basilica. The patriarchal seat was also moved to Rialto. As the community continued to develop and as Byzantine power waned, it led to the growth of autonomy and eventual independence.[17]

Super fantastic Tschibo Trip

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I went to the DOM (Dubai Outlet Mall) today and I had a shopping spree at Tschibo ! I really loved the shop since everything was so good I couldn’t resist to buy stuff! It’s nearly midinight here in the UAE so i’m off to bed :)  this will be updated real soon! So, like I said This is one of my very first uber-long shopping spree :D

xoxo, maitha

Flunking Fitness Pt. 1

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Hi folks !

Today we will learn how to… Flunk Fitness ! JKing :) We’ll try achieving just the opposite :P which is.. ummm. Acing fitness =) So as you know nothing comes without hard work and a steel-hard determination. I’ll try to help you throughout the way of your healthy journey as your guide. I will scour the labels and surf the web to win your skinny self back. I am too skinny for the age of 13 (I weigh 52kgs) but I am not fit.. !!! some people are fat, But fit (No offense fat, potato couch people!) So let’s start the Journey by fixing a goal (it’s a recipe)

Ingredients

Determination

Concentration

Iron-hard will

Music

A pen

A Paper

So, mix the Determination , Concentration and will for a flumpy mess of brightness.

Bring the paper to write Fitness goal as the title.

Write your current weight under (Kgs/Ibs)

Under it write the weight your aiming for.

Write some suggestions on how to reach the goal. (I will help with that!)

Comments on the bottom for help!

xoxo

The flunking Princess