A delicious and simple recipe to help prevent eye disease. Learn about the important nutrients packed into this smoothie from Dr. Barbara Pelletier, IRIS Optometrist.
Dr. Barb?s Green Smoothie Makes 1 Glass. Double as needed.
Ingredients 2 cups packed kale leaves, washed and coarsely chopped 2 ripe kiwis, peeled and quartered 1 cup sweet green grapes (or 1 banana) Juice of one lime 1 cup filtered water
Directions 1. Put grapes in blender. Twirl until blended.? 2. Add kiwis, kale and water. Blend until smooth. 3. Check consistency. Add water as needed. 4. Taste; flavor will vary depending on how sweet the kiwis and grapes are. Adjust accordingly. 5. If too tart, omit the lime juice and add grapes.? 6. If sweet, add lime juice.
Tips: - If kiwis are quite sweet, you will get more eye nutrients by using more kiwis and less grapes or bananas. ? If using bananas, using lime juice is essential to reduce oxidation (browning) of the smoothie. - Enjoy immediately and keep leftovers in individual reusable bottles in the fridge for up to four days. Before drinking leftovers, shake well.
This delicious smoothie is loaded with lutein. Lutein is found in the eye and is one of the most important nutrients in an eye healthy diet. It is also beneficial to your skin and brain. But what exactly is lutein?
Lutein and its sidekick zeaxanthin are pigments naturally occuring in plants. They are important to eye health because they absorb damaging blue light form the sun in the eye at the lens and the central part of the retina, the macula. They also act as anti-oxidants, protecting the cells in the eye from the damaging effects of the environment. People who have the most lutein and zeaxanthin in their retina have increased visual performance in terms of sharpness, contrast sensitivity and glare reduction.
Lutein and zeaxanthin help prevent cataracts and age-related macular degeneration.?In fact, a large scientific study, AREDS 2 is currently evaluating the effects of 10 mg lutein and 2 mg zeaxanthin in supplement form in preventing further damage from macular degeneration in people already diagnosed with the disease.
Our bodies cannot make lutein and zeaxanthin so we must obtain them from foods or supplements.?Lutein is found in the highest concentration leafy green vegetables, such as kale, spinach, romaine lettuce, collard greens. Another great source of lutein is egg yolks; although the amount of lutein in egg yolks is less than in dark leafy greens, it is absorbed much more efficiently in the body. Lutein needs fat to be absorbed and transported in the body.?Add a small amount of oil to your steamed leafy greens or to your stir-fry pan to reap the benefits of this powerful nutrient.
Kale contains the most lutein of all the leafy green vegetables.?One medium leaf of kale contains over 10 mg of lutein, which as high as what is being studied in a supplement form right now in AREDS 2. The lutein intake of the average North American is 1 to 3 mg per day.
Dr. Barb?s Green Smoothie is a great way to include kale into your diet and nourish your eyes with loads of lutein. Eat a few nuts as a side to help with the absorption of lutein.
Barbara Pelletier, IRIS Optometrist Author, Eyefoods
Visit eyefoods.com for more tips on healthy eating for your eyes and visit iris.ca to book an eye exam.
It must be pleased to celebrate another birthday party of your kid. So, do not forget to prepare all things your kid love so much. However, a party should not always be visited by so many people. In opposite, it can still be lovable to celebrate your kid?s birthday in a special dinner at home. You can call your relatives and families to come to your home and have a nice dinner altogether. If you want all people to come to this dinner, you should send the invitation cards some days before the special day. This way, all the invited people will be able to manage their schedule well.
As the invitation cards have been delivered door to door, you can start to think of the decoration. You must not want to sadden your kid because of lack of balloon or ribbon at home. So, start thinking of any decoration that perfectly matches the age of your kid. And then, do not forget about the foods and beverages. Assure that all favorites of your kid should be there so that the night will become more special for your kid.
Finally, after having done with the invitation cards, decoration, foods and beverages, you can move on to find out appropriate cards for your little one. Thankfully, birthday cards are now available in a wide array of collections so that it can ease you to match the colors, images, and other else. You can put your lovely words on it coupled with your prepared gift in a nice box. Visit? cafepress.com for any collection of cards.
A 17-year-old Texas honors student who was jailed for missing too much school because she had to work two jobs to support her siblings, refused to accept the more than $100,000 a website raised for her.
"We saw her trying to work and trying to go to school and trying to do all these things and then to have the judge put her in jail for missing school just seemed a little harsh," said Paul Dietzel, who helped raise the money for Diane Tran. HelpDianeTran.com is a project of the Louisiana Children's Education Alliance.
But Tran didn't want the money: "There's some other kid out there struggling more ... than me," she said.
The 11th-grader's story sparked national outrage last week after a Houston judge charged her with contempt and sent her to jail after 10 unexcused absences in a six-month period, which is the law in the state of Texas.
"If you let one of them run loose, what are you going to do with the rest of them?" Judge Lanny Moriarty told ABC News affiliate KHOU. "A little stay at the jail is not a death sentence," he said.
After Tran's parents got divorced, supporting her older brother and younger sister fell to her. Her mother relocated out of state and her father often worked too late to come home, according to Mary Elliot, Diane Tran's boss at her weekend job.
After going to school from 7 a.m. ? 2 p.m., Tran worked full-time at a dry cleaner's. On weekends, she helped Elliot throw weddings. Tran said that some mornings it was just hard to get out of bed.
"I can understand if a child is staying out of school, running around, a bad kid, getting into trouble, taking drugs," said Elliot. "I can understand why he would slap them into jail for 24 hours. But Diane doesn't do that. All she does is work and go to school."
Tran's attorney, Brian Wice, told ABC News that he met with the Moriarty and convinced him to reverse his decision and drop the contempt charge, hoping to clear Tran's record.
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Microsoft PowerPoint is non-free money-making software developed by Microsoft. It is part of the Microsoft Office suite. The current versions are Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2010 for Windows and Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2011 for Mac. PowerPoint is useful program to exhibit your presentations in graphical manners with the use of special effects and transitions. Definitely this is cool software to deliver your presentation without any extra time consumption. Almost the every scale of business use PowerPoint for their presentation purposes. Today we are going to share you some cool and professional power point business presentation templates. These all templates are free for download so have a look ?25 Free Download PowerPoint Business Presentation Templates? and download professional templates for your business presentations.
Person Thinking PowerPoint Template ? 3 Slides
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Global Connection PowerPoint Template ? 21 Slides with charts & diagrams
In 1981 physicist Nick Herbert leveraged strange features of quantum mechanics to design a superluminal communication system. The quest to uncover its subtle flaw led to a profound new understanding of the quantum world
By David Kaiser
?|
May 29, 2012?|
Herbert's FLASH system?the acronym stood for "first laser-amplified superluminal hookup"?employed a source that emitted pairs of photons in opposite directions. The scheme focused on photons' polarization?that is, the directions along which their associated electric fields oscillated. The photons could be plane-polarized, with the electric fields oscillating either horizontally (H) or vertically (V). Or the photons could be circularly polarized, with the electric fields tracing out helical patterns in either a right-handed (R) or left-handed (L) orientation.
Physicists had long known that the two flavors of polarization?plane or circular?were intimately related. Plane-polarized light could be used to create circularly polarized light, and vice versa. For example, a beam of H-polarized light consisted of equal parts R- and L-polarized light, in a particular combination, just as a beam of R-polarized light could be broken down into equal parts H and V. Likewise for individual photons: a photon in state R, for example, could be represented as a special combination of states H and V. If one prepared a photon in state R but chose to measure plane rather than circular polarization, one would have an equal probability of finding H or V: a single-particle version of Schr?dinger?s cat.
In Herbert's imagined set-up, one physicist, Alice ("Detector A" in the illustration), could choose to measure either plane or circular polarization of the photon headed her way [1]. If she chose to measure plane polarization, she would measure H and V outcomes with equal probability. If she chose to measure circular polarization, she would find R and L outcomes with equal probability.
In addition, Alice knows that because of the nature of the source of photons, each photon she measures has an entangled twin moving toward her partner, Bob. Quantum entanglement means that the two photons behave like two sides of a coin: if one is measured to be in state R, then the other must be in state L; or if one is measured in state H, the other must be in state V. The kicker, according to Bell's theorem, is that Alice's choice of which type of polarization to measure (plane or circular) should instantly affect the other photon, streaming toward Bob [2]. If she chose to measure plane polarization and happened to get the result H, then the entangled photon heading toward Bob would enter the state V instantaneously. If she had chosen instead to measure circular polarization and found the result R, then the entangled photon instantly would have entered the state L.
Next came Herbert's special twist. Before the second photon made its way to Bob's detectors, it entered a laser gain tube [3]. Lasers had been around for 20 years by that time, and as the leading textbooks routinely touted, the output from a laser had the same polarization as the input signal. That suggested that the laser should release a burst of photons in the complementary state to whatever Alice had found at her side. Bob could then split the beam [4], sending half toward a detector to measure plane polarization [5] and half toward a detector to measure circular polarization [6].
If Alice chose to measure circular polarization and happened to find L, then the entangled photon heading toward Bob would instantly go into the state R prior to entering the laser gain tube. Out of the laser would burst a stream of R photons heading toward Bob. He could then send half the beam toward a detector to measure plane polarization and half toward a detector to measure circular polarization. In this case, Herbert concluded, Bob would find half the photons in state R, none in state L, and a quarter each in states H and V. In an instant, Bob would know that Alice had chosen to measure circular polarization. Alice's choice?plane or circular polarization?would function like the dots and dashes of Morse code. She could signal Bob simply by alternating her choice of what type of polarization to measure. Bob could decode each bit of Alice?s code faster than light could have traveled between them.
As GianCarlo Ghirardi, Tullio Weber, Wojciech Zurek, Bill Wootters and Dennis Dieks each clarified, Herbert?s device would not actually allow superluminal signaling. A photon in state R, for example, would exist as a combination of equal parts H and V. Each of those underlying states would be amplified by the laser. Hence the output would be a superposition of two states: one in which all the photons were in state H, and the other in which all the photons were in state V, each with a probability of 50 percent. Bob would never find half in H and half in V at the same time, just as physicists would never find Schr?dinger's cat to be both half-dead and half-alive upon opening the box. Thus, Bob would receive only noise no matter what setting Alice had chosen on her end. Moment by moment, Bob's detectors would flash H with R or V with L or H with L and so on, in random combinations. He would never find HandV with R, and hence he would have no way to determine what Alice had been trying to tell him. Quantum entanglement and relativity could coexist after all.
This discovery became known as the "no-cloning theorem": a powerful statement about the ultimate foundations of quantum theory. An arbitrary or unknown quantum state cannot be copied without disturbing the original state. No one had ever recognized that fundamental feature of quantum theory before the cat-and-mouse game had unfolded between Nick Herbert's thought experiment and his talented detractors. The fact that quantum theory sets an ultimate limit on the ability of anyone?including a potential eavesdropper?to seize individual quantum particles and make copies of them soon became the bedrock for quantum encryption, and today is at the heart of the flourishing field of quantum information science.
Nor is it credible to attribute the Spurs? obscurity to San Antonio?s alleged ?small market? status, a hoary clich? that fails to notice the extraordinary population growth in Texas since the ABA-NBA merger brought the Spurs into the league. It?s true that San Antonio remains considerably smaller than New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, or even Dallas and Houston. But it?s far from the NBA?s smallest market. The San Antonio metropolitan area?s 2.2 million inhabitants ranks it above Sacramento, Orlando, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Memphis, New Orleans, and not least of all Oklahoma City.
Apple just confirmed that?its keynote event?will take?place on Monday, June 11,?during?the company's annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC).?As usual, expectations are high ? the event potentially?brings a new product?announcement?or two.
The keynote will take place at 10 a.m. PT/1 p.m. ET on June 11. Apple typically kicks WWDC off with such an event, so no one's surprised by its appearance on the WWDC schedule. Instead, the focus is on whether or not a new product will be announced when?Apple CEO Tim Cook steps onto a stage in San Francisco, California two weeks from now.
As I've explained when I reviewed what we can expect to hear from Apple, both at WWDC and for the rest of the year, the Cupertino-based company is prone to releasing major iOS updates during the summer.?And besides, WWDC ??as its name implies ??is a global crossroads for Mac and iOS developers, and generally focuses on software, rather than hardware. So, if I were placing?bets on what will be announced at WWDC 2012, I'd put my big money on iOS 6.
Of course ??with the exception of the iPhone 4S ??every new iPhone model hit the?shelves in either June or July. This pattern has many believing that the next-generation Apple smartphone will be announced during WWDC.?Unfortunately for those hopeful folks,?most recent reports shoot down the idea?that the next iPhone will make an appearance on that day.
If you want to read more about this?? and other Apple-themed?? speculation, I suggest heading over to our recent rumor round-up. And once you're done with that, hit the comments and tell us what you think Apple's keynote event?will bring.
Want more tech news, silly puns, or amusing links? You'll get plenty of all three if you keep up with Rosa Golijan, the writer of this post, by following her on?Twitter, subscribing to her?Facebook?posts,?or circling her?on?Google+.
Nowhere to hide: New device sees bacteria behind the eardrumPublic release date: 29-May-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Liz Ahlberg eahlberg@illinois.edu 217-244-1073 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
CHAMPAIGN, lll. Doctors can now get a peek behind the eardrum to better diagnose and treat chronic ear infections, thanks to a new medical imaging device invented by University of Illinois researchers. The device could usher in a new suite of non-invasive, 3-D diagnostic imaging tools for primary-care physicians.
The research team, led by University of Illinois electrical and computer engineering professor Stephen Boppart, will publish their advance in the online Early Edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences the week of May 28.
Ear infections are the most common conditions that pediatricians treat. Chronic ear infections can damage hearing and often require surgery to place drainage tubes in the eardrum, and problems can persist into adulthood.
Studies have found that patients who suffer from chronic ear infections may have a film of bacteria or other microorganisms that builds up behind the eardrum, very similar to dental plaque on unbrushed teeth. Finding and monitoring these so-called biofilms are important for successfully identifying and treating chronic ear infections.
"We know that antibiotics don't always work well if you have a biofilm, because the bacteria protect themselves and become resistant," Boppart said. "In the presence of a chronic ear infection that has a biofilm, the bacteria may not respond to the usual antibiotics, and you need to stop them. But without being able to detect the biofilm, we have no idea whether or not it's responding to treatment."
However, middle-ear biofilms are difficult to diagnose. A doctor looking through a standard otoscope sees only the eardrum's surface, not the bacteria-seeded biofilm lurking behind it
waiting to bloom into infection. Invasive tests can provide evidence of a biofilm, but are unpleasant for the patient and cannot be used routinely.
The new device is an application of a technique called optical coherence tomography (OCT), a non-invasive imaging system devised by Boppart's group. It uses beams of light to collect high-resolution, three-dimensional tissue images, scanning through the eardrum to the biofilm behind it much like ultrasound imaging, but using light.
"We send the light into the ear canal, and it scatters and reflects from the tympanic membrane and the biofilm behind it," said graduate student Cac Nguyen, the lead author of the paper. "We measure the reflection, and with the reference light we can get the structure in depth."
The single scan is performed in a fraction of a second speed is a necessity for treating squirming tots and images a few millimeters deep behind the eardrum. Thus, doctors can see not only the presence of a biofilm, but also how thick it is and its position against the eardrum.
The paper marks the first demonstration of using the ear OCT device to detect biofilms in human patients. To test their device, the researchers worked with clinicians at Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana, Ill., to scan patients with diagnosed chronic ear infections, as well as patients with normal ears. The device identified biofilms in all patients with chronic infections, while none of the normal ears showed evidence of biofilms.
"I think this is now a technology that allows physicians to monitor chronic ear infection, and examine better ways to treat the disease," said Boppart, who is also affiliated with the departments of bioengineering and internal medicine, the Institute for Genomic Biology, and the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the U. of I. "We can use different antibiotics and see how the biofilm responds."
Next, the researchers plan to investigate different ear pathology, particularly comparing acute and chronic infections, and will examine the relationship between biofilms and hearing loss. They hope that improved diagnostics will lead to better treatment and referral practices.
The researchers hope to make their device currently a hand-held
prototype even more compact, easy to use, and low-cost. The device company Welch Allyn, based in Skaneateles Falls, N.Y., is a collaborator on the project, which was funded by the National Institutes of Health.
Boppart's group and its collaborators also will work to apply OCT imaging to other areas commonly examined by primary-care physicians. The ear-imaging device is the first in a suite of OCT-based imaging tools that the group plans to develop. Doctors could change the tip of the new OCT device, for example, to look at the eyes, mouth, nose, or skin.
"All the sites that a primary-care physician would look at, we can now look at with this more advanced imaging, " Boppart said. "With OCT, we are bringing to the primary-care clinic high-resolution 3-D digital imaging and being able to look at many different tissue structures in real-time, non-invasively and in depth."
"As medicine gets more high-tech, we want to give the front-line doctor the best technology to detect disease early," Boppart said.
###
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Nowhere to hide: New device sees bacteria behind the eardrumPublic release date: 29-May-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Liz Ahlberg eahlberg@illinois.edu 217-244-1073 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
CHAMPAIGN, lll. Doctors can now get a peek behind the eardrum to better diagnose and treat chronic ear infections, thanks to a new medical imaging device invented by University of Illinois researchers. The device could usher in a new suite of non-invasive, 3-D diagnostic imaging tools for primary-care physicians.
The research team, led by University of Illinois electrical and computer engineering professor Stephen Boppart, will publish their advance in the online Early Edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences the week of May 28.
Ear infections are the most common conditions that pediatricians treat. Chronic ear infections can damage hearing and often require surgery to place drainage tubes in the eardrum, and problems can persist into adulthood.
Studies have found that patients who suffer from chronic ear infections may have a film of bacteria or other microorganisms that builds up behind the eardrum, very similar to dental plaque on unbrushed teeth. Finding and monitoring these so-called biofilms are important for successfully identifying and treating chronic ear infections.
"We know that antibiotics don't always work well if you have a biofilm, because the bacteria protect themselves and become resistant," Boppart said. "In the presence of a chronic ear infection that has a biofilm, the bacteria may not respond to the usual antibiotics, and you need to stop them. But without being able to detect the biofilm, we have no idea whether or not it's responding to treatment."
However, middle-ear biofilms are difficult to diagnose. A doctor looking through a standard otoscope sees only the eardrum's surface, not the bacteria-seeded biofilm lurking behind it
waiting to bloom into infection. Invasive tests can provide evidence of a biofilm, but are unpleasant for the patient and cannot be used routinely.
The new device is an application of a technique called optical coherence tomography (OCT), a non-invasive imaging system devised by Boppart's group. It uses beams of light to collect high-resolution, three-dimensional tissue images, scanning through the eardrum to the biofilm behind it much like ultrasound imaging, but using light.
"We send the light into the ear canal, and it scatters and reflects from the tympanic membrane and the biofilm behind it," said graduate student Cac Nguyen, the lead author of the paper. "We measure the reflection, and with the reference light we can get the structure in depth."
The single scan is performed in a fraction of a second speed is a necessity for treating squirming tots and images a few millimeters deep behind the eardrum. Thus, doctors can see not only the presence of a biofilm, but also how thick it is and its position against the eardrum.
The paper marks the first demonstration of using the ear OCT device to detect biofilms in human patients. To test their device, the researchers worked with clinicians at Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana, Ill., to scan patients with diagnosed chronic ear infections, as well as patients with normal ears. The device identified biofilms in all patients with chronic infections, while none of the normal ears showed evidence of biofilms.
"I think this is now a technology that allows physicians to monitor chronic ear infection, and examine better ways to treat the disease," said Boppart, who is also affiliated with the departments of bioengineering and internal medicine, the Institute for Genomic Biology, and the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the U. of I. "We can use different antibiotics and see how the biofilm responds."
Next, the researchers plan to investigate different ear pathology, particularly comparing acute and chronic infections, and will examine the relationship between biofilms and hearing loss. They hope that improved diagnostics will lead to better treatment and referral practices.
The researchers hope to make their device currently a hand-held
prototype even more compact, easy to use, and low-cost. The device company Welch Allyn, based in Skaneateles Falls, N.Y., is a collaborator on the project, which was funded by the National Institutes of Health.
Boppart's group and its collaborators also will work to apply OCT imaging to other areas commonly examined by primary-care physicians. The ear-imaging device is the first in a suite of OCT-based imaging tools that the group plans to develop. Doctors could change the tip of the new OCT device, for example, to look at the eyes, mouth, nose, or skin.
"All the sites that a primary-care physician would look at, we can now look at with this more advanced imaging, " Boppart said. "With OCT, we are bringing to the primary-care clinic high-resolution 3-D digital imaging and being able to look at many different tissue structures in real-time, non-invasively and in depth."
"As medicine gets more high-tech, we want to give the front-line doctor the best technology to detect disease early," Boppart said.
###
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Face.com's CEO has shrugged off?rumors?that it is being acquired by Facebook for up to $100 million when we asked. But the addition of its facial recognition tech to Facebook's mobile apps could make sure friend tagging continues as the social network's user base shifts away from desktops. In fact, about 45% of users of Face.com's app KLIK end up sharing their photos on Facebook, which shows how popular mobile facial recognition could be.
..I?expect to be smote down for saying it, but I think the two month old, mediocre, Case-Shiller number that came out today is consistent with the idea that the housing market will really come back big this year (I said so in the paper and on the radio today, so I might as well say it here).
Inventories in many hard hit markets are now low by historical standards. ?Time on market has fallen. ?HARP II can accelerate amortization (which is its most important feature). ?Prices are really cheap, both when the user cost they produce is compared with rent, and when compared with incomes (by World standards).
The asexual community is starting to gain visibility, but many people ? even some researchers and sex educators ? still consider them unicorns. One look at the well-frequented and educational website of AVEN, the Asexual Visibility and Education Network, is enough to dispel that particular myth. Since having been founded by David Jay in 2001, AVEN has become the world?s largest asexual online community, with Salon.com having called it the ?unofficial online headquarters? of the asexual movement. A study by Anthony F. Bogaert, published in the Journal of Sex Research in 2004, estimated the number of people who have never experienced sexual attraction at about 1%.
A person who is asexual doesn?t experience sexual attraction to other people, regardless of sex or gender. Obviously, that doesn?t make them emotionless clay tiles though. Asexuals still have emotional needs and, like sexual people, fulfill them in a variety of ways. Some, though not all, also experience romantic attraction and/or physical arousal, but not all experience them the same way. As sexual and romantic attraction work independently of each other, some asexuals can also identify as lesbian, bi, straight, or gay, depending on who they prefer having relationships with. Yes, some asexuals can have and desire having relationships, including with sexual people. Like all successful relationships, they require honesty and good communication, but are entirely possible.
Now, let?s tackle some of the most common misconceptions people who are unfamiliar with asexuality have.
Asexuality is not the same as celibacy. People can choose to be celibate for a variety of reasons; asexuals, however, choose their orientation as little as bisexual, lesbian, gay or straight people. It is not caused by abuse, sexual repression or mental illness. Most asexuals simply feel neutral about sex, though there are also some who would find participating in anything sexual with another person entirely repulsive. Asexuality can?t be cured, and trying to do so would be harmful to the asexual person.
Another challenge asexuals face in everyday life is living in a society that places such a high value on sex. We?re all surrounded by sexual images and messages, and it can be difficult for asexuals to deal with the expectations society places on them. In a world where most people expect everybody to be sexually interested in others, it?s easy to feel alienated. And then there?s also that question. How can you know you?re asexual when you?ve never had sex with somebody? Sounds familiar, if you?re anything other than traditionally straight, doesn?t it? Let me answer this with a counter question: How can you know you?re straight (or bisexual or gay) when you?ve never had sex with somebody?
With all that said, if you used to experience sexual attraction and a sex drive and they suddenly vanished, you should seek out a medical professional. It could be a sign of something more serious, a hormonal imbalance or a side effect of medication.
If you want to learn more about asexuality, I suggest you visit www.asexuality.org. AVEN has detailed answers in their FAQs, including for family members and partners of asexuals. There is also an extensive AVENwiki, which has a lot of in-depth information.
Everyone loves having a birthday party in their honor and the Bigfoot family is no exception. Due to how close knit the Bigfoots are, however, they continue to celebrate the birthdays of all adults involved in full party mode. In fact, in some Bigfoot clans, the adult parties rival the kids parties in fanfare and decorations.
Finding the ideal party supplies can sometimes be a challenge for Bigfoots, though. In spite of the challenges, over the years, the Bigfoots have evolved enough so they are usually able to find what they need in time to throw one of their infamous parties.
?My family and I are a quiet and peace loving folk so it was really upseting when people would run screaming from us when we came to town to get our party supplies,? opines Berta Bigfoot gently. ?Fortunately, after a few more visits to town, people began to let their curiosities get the best of them. Soon, we were able to locate a party store nearby.?
Says Pearl Tucker, ?I admit I was slightly taken aback by the sight of this quartet of giant fur covered beings that had to bend down to comfortably enter my party store.? The owner of the town?s only party store, Party Supplies Palace, continues,?It wasn?t long, however, before I was put at ease by the Bigfoot family and we got down to the business of discussing their party supply needs.?
Finding new and fresh themes for the parties for the members of the Bigfoot family has been proven to be a challenge for both the family itself and Ms Tucker.
?Since the Bigfoot family has a history of throwing big and elaborate parties for all of its members, they had pretty much exhausted their options for this year?s events. Fortunately, after a few meetings with the family, both here at my shop and at their own home, I was able to get a feel for what they like and want,? Ms Tucker shared. The results were a number of special orders that focused on the theme of this year?s parties: the goat.
Pin the tail on the goat, a goat pinata, and goat themed plates, napkins, table coverings and cups are just a few of the items visible to the party guests who have been fortunate enough to snap up an elusive invitation to one of the Bigfoot family?s parties.
Dr. Barb?s Green Smoothie is a great way to include kale into your diet and nourish your eyes with loads of lutein. Eat a few nuts as a side to help with the absorption of lutein.
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Public release date: 29-May-2012
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The asexual community is starting to gain visibility, but many people ? even some researchers and sex educators ? still consider them unicorns. One look at the well-frequented and educational website of AVEN, the Asexual Visibility and Education Network, is enough to dispel that particular myth. Since having been founded by David Jay in 2001, AVEN has become the world?s largest asexual online community, with Salon.com having called it the ?unofficial online headquarters? of the asexual movement. A study by Anthony F. Bogaert, published in the Journal of Sex Research in 2004, estimated the number of people who have never experienced sexual attraction at about 1%.
