Saturday, November 14, 2009
Thursday, November 27, 2008
MEMORY OF BANGKOK 2008
The city of Bangkok is the capital, largest urban area and primary city of Thailand. Known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon (pronounced [krūŋtʰêːp máhǎːnákʰɔn], กรุงเทพมหานคร or Krung Thep (กรุงเทพฯ (help·info)) for short, it was a small trading post at the mouth of the Chao Phraya River during the Ayutthaya Kingdom and came to the forefront of Thailand when it was given the status as the capital city in 1768 after the burning of Ayudhya, the former kingdom seat and capital of the Ayuthaya province.
However, the current Rattanakosin Kingdom did not begin until 1782 when the capital was moved across the river after being sacked by the Burmese. The Rattanakosin capital is now more formally called "Phra Nakorn", pertaining to the ancient boundaries in the metropolis' core and the name Bangkok now incorporates the urban build-up since the 18th century which has its own public administration and governor.
In the span of over two hundred years, Bangkok has been the political, social and economic center of not only Thailand but for much of South East Asia and Indochina as well. Its influence in the arts, politics, fashion, education and entertainment as well as being a business, financial and cultural center of Asia has given Bangkok the status of a global city.
Bangkok is the world's 22nd largest city by population with approximately 8,160,522 registered residents (July 2007), but due to large unregistered influxes of migrants from the North East of Thailand and of many nations across Asia, the population of greater Bangkok is estimated at nearly 15 million people.[citation needed] This has in turn shifted the country from being a rather homogenous Thai population to increasingly a more vibrant mix of Western, Indian and Chinese people. The capital is part of the heavily urbanized triangle of central and eastern region of Thailand which stretches from Nakhon Ratchasima along Bangkok to the industrialized eastern seaboard.
The Bangkok Province borders six other provinces: Nonthaburi, Pathum Thani, Samut Prakan, Samut Sakhon and Nakhon Pathom, and all five provinces are joined in the conurbation of the Bangkok Metropolitan Area.
The town of Bangkok (บางกอก (help·info)) began as a small Khmer trading center and port community on the west bank of the Chao Phraya River before the establishment of the Ayutthaya Kingdom, the precursor of modern Thailand which existed from 1350 to 1767. The etymology of the town's name is unclear. Bang is the Central Thai name for a town situated on the bank of a river. It is believed that "Bangkok" derived from either Bang Kok, kok (กอก) being the Thai name for one or more olive-bearing fruits (olive in Thai is makok [มะกอก]); or Bang Koh, koh meaning "island," a reference to the area's landscape which was carved by rivers and canals.
Wat Phra Kaew was constructed as part of the Grand Palace complex at the founding of the capital.
After the fall of Ayutthaya to the Burmese Kingdom in 1767, the newly declared King Taksin established a new capital in the area of then-Bangkok, which became known as Thonburi. When Taksin's reign ended in 1782, King Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke reconstructed the capital on the east bank of the river and gave the city a ceremonial name (see below) which became shortened to its current official name, Krung Thep Maha Nakhon (which, like "Los Angeles", means "city of angels"). The new city, however, also inherited the name Bangkok, which continued to be used by foreigners to refer to the entire city and became its official English name, while in Thai the name still refers only to the old district on the west bank of the river. The city has since vastly modernized and undergone numerous changes, including the introduction of transportation and utility infrastructure in the reigns of King Mongkut and King Chulalongkorn, and quickly developed into the economic center of Thailand.
From Wikipedia
However, the current Rattanakosin Kingdom did not begin until 1782 when the capital was moved across the river after being sacked by the Burmese. The Rattanakosin capital is now more formally called "Phra Nakorn", pertaining to the ancient boundaries in the metropolis' core and the name Bangkok now incorporates the urban build-up since the 18th century which has its own public administration and governor.
In the span of over two hundred years, Bangkok has been the political, social and economic center of not only Thailand but for much of South East Asia and Indochina as well. Its influence in the arts, politics, fashion, education and entertainment as well as being a business, financial and cultural center of Asia has given Bangkok the status of a global city.
Bangkok is the world's 22nd largest city by population with approximately 8,160,522 registered residents (July 2007), but due to large unregistered influxes of migrants from the North East of Thailand and of many nations across Asia, the population of greater Bangkok is estimated at nearly 15 million people.[citation needed] This has in turn shifted the country from being a rather homogenous Thai population to increasingly a more vibrant mix of Western, Indian and Chinese people. The capital is part of the heavily urbanized triangle of central and eastern region of Thailand which stretches from Nakhon Ratchasima along Bangkok to the industrialized eastern seaboard.
The Bangkok Province borders six other provinces: Nonthaburi, Pathum Thani, Samut Prakan, Samut Sakhon and Nakhon Pathom, and all five provinces are joined in the conurbation of the Bangkok Metropolitan Area.
The town of Bangkok (บางกอก (help·info)) began as a small Khmer trading center and port community on the west bank of the Chao Phraya River before the establishment of the Ayutthaya Kingdom, the precursor of modern Thailand which existed from 1350 to 1767. The etymology of the town's name is unclear. Bang is the Central Thai name for a town situated on the bank of a river. It is believed that "Bangkok" derived from either Bang Kok, kok (กอก) being the Thai name for one or more olive-bearing fruits (olive in Thai is makok [มะกอก]); or Bang Koh, koh meaning "island," a reference to the area's landscape which was carved by rivers and canals.
Wat Phra Kaew was constructed as part of the Grand Palace complex at the founding of the capital.
After the fall of Ayutthaya to the Burmese Kingdom in 1767, the newly declared King Taksin established a new capital in the area of then-Bangkok, which became known as Thonburi. When Taksin's reign ended in 1782, King Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke reconstructed the capital on the east bank of the river and gave the city a ceremonial name (see below) which became shortened to its current official name, Krung Thep Maha Nakhon (which, like "Los Angeles", means "city of angels"). The new city, however, also inherited the name Bangkok, which continued to be used by foreigners to refer to the entire city and became its official English name, while in Thai the name still refers only to the old district on the west bank of the river. The city has since vastly modernized and undergone numerous changes, including the introduction of transportation and utility infrastructure in the reigns of King Mongkut and King Chulalongkorn, and quickly developed into the economic center of Thailand.
From Wikipedia
Saturday, November 8, 2008
COUGHING AND AEROSOLS
When a healthy volunterer cough, he expels a turbulent jet of air with density changes that distort a projected schlieren light beam (Panel A). A velocity map early in the cough (Panel B) was obtained from image analysis. Sequential schlieren images during the cough (Panel C and video) were recorded at 3000 frames per second. A maximum airspeed of 8 m per second (18 mph) was observed, averaged during the half-second cough. Several phases of cough airflow are revealed in the figure. The cough plume may project infectious aerosols into the surrounding air. There is an increasing interest in visualizing such expelled airflows without the use of intrusive methods because of concern regarding the transmission of various airborne pathogens, such as viruses that cause influenza and the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).
Source (pdf)
Source (pdf)
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
WORLD'S OLDEST MOM GIVES BIRTH TO TWINS
A 72-year-old woman who has two children and five grandchildren has given birth to twins, making her the world's oldest mother. Omkari Panwar delivered twins, a boy and a girl, by Caesarean section last week.
"I am very happy," Charam Singh, 75, the father of the twins, told ABC News through an interpreter. Singh was reluctant to speak because he has received negative publicity for his wife's having children at such an advanced age. Even many people of his village in India's state of Uttar Pradesh haven't supported the decision. Still, he and his wife are happy. "The desire for a male child has always been there, but God did not bless us with a male child," he said of the son who is a product of in vitro fertilization. "Now, we are very grateful to God, who has answered our prayers."
Panwar, also known as Rajkali, and her husband, a retired farmer, were desperate to have a male heir. Boys are highly valued in India, particularly in rural areas. Traditionally, many Hindus believe that death rites must be performed by the closest male relatives, making the need for a male heir especially important. In addition, although the dowry system is officially banned in India, many Indians still practice it, making daughters a more expensive proposition. In India, it's common to abort female fetuses, although it is illegal for doctors to reveal the sex of a fetus to pregnant parents. In some Indian states where female abortion rates are high, the government will pay parents to raise and educate daughters to create a more balanced male-to-female ratio. The septuagenarian couple spent their life savings and took out a loan from the bank for Panwar to undergo in vitro treatments. For the couple, the desire to have a son was most important because they wanted to carry on the family name. They know that their son may never be able to care for them in the traditional way because of the age gap.
Panwar had a difficult pregnancy. Singh said that he never thought his wife would make it through the pregnancy and that the in vitro treatments were painful. But she survived. "It is a miracle," he said. "Now, she is very happy." The frail woman was in serious condition when she arrived at the hospital. Her blood pressure was high and she was bleeding. "I arranged to have blood transfusions and made lots of preparations to save her babies and her life," said Dr. Nisha Malik, who performed the emergency Caesarean section.
Malik told ABC News that Panwar had a difficult pregnancy, suffering from back pain and was on bed rest for eight months. She said that Panwar looked about 65 years old. "I was really shocked," Malik said of hearing that Panwar was older, a fact based on the woman's own estimates as she doesn't have a birth certificate. Although the babies were born a month premature and had a low birth weight, the twins' doctor at Sushila Jaswant rai Hospital located near New Delhi told ABC News that the babies are doing well.
Source
"I am very happy," Charam Singh, 75, the father of the twins, told ABC News through an interpreter. Singh was reluctant to speak because he has received negative publicity for his wife's having children at such an advanced age. Even many people of his village in India's state of Uttar Pradesh haven't supported the decision. Still, he and his wife are happy. "The desire for a male child has always been there, but God did not bless us with a male child," he said of the son who is a product of in vitro fertilization. "Now, we are very grateful to God, who has answered our prayers."
Panwar, also known as Rajkali, and her husband, a retired farmer, were desperate to have a male heir. Boys are highly valued in India, particularly in rural areas. Traditionally, many Hindus believe that death rites must be performed by the closest male relatives, making the need for a male heir especially important. In addition, although the dowry system is officially banned in India, many Indians still practice it, making daughters a more expensive proposition. In India, it's common to abort female fetuses, although it is illegal for doctors to reveal the sex of a fetus to pregnant parents. In some Indian states where female abortion rates are high, the government will pay parents to raise and educate daughters to create a more balanced male-to-female ratio. The septuagenarian couple spent their life savings and took out a loan from the bank for Panwar to undergo in vitro treatments. For the couple, the desire to have a son was most important because they wanted to carry on the family name. They know that their son may never be able to care for them in the traditional way because of the age gap.
Panwar had a difficult pregnancy. Singh said that he never thought his wife would make it through the pregnancy and that the in vitro treatments were painful. But she survived. "It is a miracle," he said. "Now, she is very happy." The frail woman was in serious condition when she arrived at the hospital. Her blood pressure was high and she was bleeding. "I arranged to have blood transfusions and made lots of preparations to save her babies and her life," said Dr. Nisha Malik, who performed the emergency Caesarean section.
Malik told ABC News that Panwar had a difficult pregnancy, suffering from back pain and was on bed rest for eight months. She said that Panwar looked about 65 years old. "I was really shocked," Malik said of hearing that Panwar was older, a fact based on the woman's own estimates as she doesn't have a birth certificate. Although the babies were born a month premature and had a low birth weight, the twins' doctor at Sushila Jaswant rai Hospital located near New Delhi told ABC News that the babies are doing well.
Source
Sunday, June 15, 2008
EVERY FIFTH ADOLESCENT SMOKES
As a number of as 20% of adolescents from 11 to 17 years of age smoke. This was the result of the nationwide German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Children and Adolescents (KiGGS), performed by the Robert Koch Institute and presented by the sociologist Thomas Lampert in the current edition of Deutsches rzteblatt International (Dtsch Arztebl Int 2008; 105[15]: 265-71).
The analysis of tobacco consumption by children and adolescents covered almost 7,000 girls and boys aged 11 to 17. Data on the current smoking status and on exposure to passive smoking were collected for the years 2003 to 2006. Possible factors influencing the findings were examined, including the social status of the family, the type of school attended by the adolescents, and the smoking status of parents and friends.
Thomas Lampert's study shows that friends and the type of school have greater influence on smoking behavior than the parents do. The probability that an adolescent starts smoking is markedly greater when his or her friends smoke. The risk is hardly increased if the parents smoke. Conversely, students at general secondary schools (Hauptschule), intermediate schools (Realschule) or comprehensive schools (Gesamtschule) smoke much more frequently than do pupils at high school (Gymnasium).
The analysis of tobacco consumption by children and adolescents covered almost 7,000 girls and boys aged 11 to 17. Data on the current smoking status and on exposure to passive smoking were collected for the years 2003 to 2006. Possible factors influencing the findings were examined, including the social status of the family, the type of school attended by the adolescents, and the smoking status of parents and friends.
Thomas Lampert's study shows that friends and the type of school have greater influence on smoking behavior than the parents do. The probability that an adolescent starts smoking is markedly greater when his or her friends smoke. The risk is hardly increased if the parents smoke. Conversely, students at general secondary schools (Hauptschule), intermediate schools (Realschule) or comprehensive schools (Gesamtschule) smoke much more frequently than do pupils at high school (Gymnasium).
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