I am not yours, not lost in you,
Not lost, although I long to be
Lost as a candle lit at noon,
Lost as a snowflake in the sea.
You love me, and I find you still
A spirit beautiful and bright,
Yet I am I, who long to be
Lost as a light is lost in light.
Oh plunge me deep in love -- put out
My senses, leave me deaf and blind,
Swept by the tempest of your love,
A taper in a rushing wind.
- by Sara Teasdale
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Smoking
Definition
Smoking is the inhalation of the smoke of burning tobacco encased in cigarettes, pipes, and cigars. Casual smoking is the act of smoking only occasionally, usually in a social situation or to relieve stress. A smoking habit is a physical addiction to tobacco products. Many health experts now regard habitual smoking as a psychological addiction, too, and one with serious health consequences.
passive smoking : involuntary inhalation of smoke from a nearby cigarette, cigar, etc., as by a nonsmoker
Once You Start, It's Hard to Stop
Smoking is a hard habit to break because tobacco contains nicotine, which is highly addictive. Like heroin or other addictive drugs, the body and mind quickly become so used to the nicotine in cigarettes that a person needs to have it just to feel normal.
People start smoking for a variety of different reasons. Some think it looks cool. Others start because their family members or friends smoke. Statistics show that about 9 out of 10 tobacco users start before they're 18 years old. Most adults who started smoking in their teens never expected to become addicted. That's why people say it's just so much easier to not start smoking at all.
How Smoking Affects Your Health
There are no physical reasons to start smoking. The body doesn't need tobacco the way it needs food, water, sleep, and exercise. In fact, many of the chemicals in cigarettes, like nicotine and cyanide, are actually poisons that can kill in high enough doses.
The body is smart. It goes on the defense when it's being poisoned. For this reason, many people find it takes several tries to get started smoking: First-time smokers often feel pain or burning in the throat and lungs, and some people feel sick or even throw up the first few times they try tobacco.
The consequences of this poisoning happen gradually. Over the long term, smoking leads people to develop health problems like cancer, emphysema (breakdown of lung tissue), organ damage, and heart disease. These diseases limit a person's ability to be normally active — and can be fatal. Each time a smoker lights up, that single cigarette takes about 5 to 20 minutes off the person's life.
Smokers not only develop wrinkles and yellow teeth, they also lose bone density, which increases their risk of osteoporosis (pronounced: ahs-tee-o-puh-row-sus), a condition that causes older people to become bent over and their bones to break more easily. Smokers also tend to be less active than nonsmokers because smoking affects lung power.
Smoking can also cause fertility problems and can impact sexual health in both men and women. Girls who are on the pill or other hormone-based methods of birth control (like the patch or the ring) increase their risk of serious health problems, such as heart attacks, if they smoke.
The consequences of smoking may seem very far off, but long-term health problems aren't the only hazard of smoking. Nicotine and the other toxins in cigarettes, cigars, and pipes can affect a person's body quickly, which means that teen smokers experience many of these problems:
Bad skin. Because smoking restricts blood vessels, it can prevent oxygen and nutrients from getting to the skin — which is why smokers often appear pale and unhealthy. An Italian study also linked smoking to an increased risk of getting a type of skin rash called psoriasis.
Bad breath. Cigarettes leave smokers with a condition called halitosis, or persistent bad breath.
Bad-smelling clothes and hair. The smell of stale smoke tends to linger — not just on people's clothing, but on their hair, furniture, and cars. And it's often hard to get the smell of smoke out.
Reduced athletic performance. People who smoke usually can't compete with nonsmoking peers because the physical effects of smoking (like rapid heartbeat, decreased circulation, and shortness of breath) impair sports performance.
Greater risk of injury and slower healing time. Smoking affects the body's ability to produce collagen, so common sports injuries, such as damage to tendons and ligaments, will heal more slowly in smokers than nonsmokers.
Increased risk of illness. Studies show that smokers get more colds, flu, bronchitis, and pneumonia than nonsmokers. And people with certain health conditions, like asthma, become more sick if they smoke (and often if they're just around people who smoke). Because teens who smoke as a way to manage weight often light up instead of eating, their bodies lack the nutrients they need to grow, develop, and fight off illness properly.
Carcinogens
Carcinogens are any substance that cause cancer. Carcinogens are classified by a health organization called the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). IARC is part of the World Health Organization. Carcinogens cause damage to our DNA, or cause cells to divide faster than their normal rate, thus causing cancer.
Smoking and Cancer from the National Cancer Institute
Cigarette smoking causes 87 percent of lung cancer deaths and is responsible for most cancers of the larynx, oral cavity and pharynx, esophagus, and bladder.
Secondhand smoke is responsible for an estimated 3,000 lung cancer deaths among U.S. nonsmokers each year.
Tobacco smoke contains thousands of chemical agents, including over 60 substances that are known to cause cancer.
The risk of developing smoking-related cancers, as well as noncancerous diseases, increases with total lifetime exposure to cigarette smoke.
Smoking cessation has major and immediate health benefits, including decreasing the risk of lung and other cancers, heart attack, stroke, and chronic lung disease.
How is it caused ?
The mixture of nicotine and carbon monoxide in each cigarette you smoke temporarily increases your heart rate and blood pressure, straining your heart and blood vessels.
This can cause heart attacks and stroke.
It slows your blood flow, cutting off oxygen to your feet and hands. Some smokers end up having their limbs amputated.
Tar coats your lungs like soot in a chimney and causes cancer. A 20-a-day smoker breathes in up to a full cup (210 g) of tar in a year.
Changing to low-tar cigarettes does not help because smokers usually take deeper puffs and hold the smoke in for longer, dragging the tar deeper into their lungs.
Carbon monoxide robs your muscles, brain and body tissue of oxygen, making your whole body and especially your heart work harder. Over time, your airways swell up and let less air into your lungs.
Smoking causes disease and is a slow way to die. The strain put on your body by smoking often causes years of suffering. Emphysema is an illness that slowly rots your lungs. People with emphysema often get bronchitis again and again, and suffer lung and heart failure.
Lung cancer from smoking is caused by the tar in tobacco smoke. Men who smoke are ten times more likely to die from lung cancer than non-smokers.
Heart disease and strokes are also more common among smokers than non-smokers.
Smoking causes fat deposits to narrow and block blood vessels which leads to heart attack.
Smoking causes around one in five deaths from heart disease.
In younger people, three out of four deaths from heart disease are due to smoking.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Helmet
A helmet is a form of protective gear worn on the head. Traditionally, helmets have been made of metal. In recent decades helmets made from resin or plastic and typically reinforced with Aramid fiber (e.g. Twaron or Kevlar) have become preferred for most applications. Designed for protection of the head in combat, or in civilian life, from sports injuries, falling objects or high-speed collisions.
ORIGIN
Helmets were among the oldest forms of combat protection.they were purely military equipment, protecting the head from cutting blows with swords, flying arrows, and low-velocity musketry.The Napoleonic era saw ornate cavalry helmets reintroduced for cuirassiers and dragoons in some armies; they continued to be used by French forces during World War I as late as 1915, when they were replaced by the new French Adrian helmet. It was soon followed by the adoption of similar steel helmets by the other warring nations.World War I and its increased use of heavy artillery had renewed the need for steel helmets, which were quickly introduced by all the combatant nations for their foot soldiers. In the 20th century, such helmets offered protection for the head from shrapnel and spent, or glancing, bullets.
FUNCTION AND STRUCTURE
Despite various designs and requirements, helmets attempt to protect the user's head through a mechanical energy-absorption process. Therefore, their structure and protective capacity are altered in high-energy impacts. Beside their energy-absorption capability, their volume and weight are also important issues, since higher volume and weight increase the injury risk for the user's head and neck.
Classical helmets from the ancient Greeks to today treat the head uniformly and are currently tested on rigid headforms. Anatomical helmets adapted to the inner head structure were invented by neurosurgeons at the end of the 20th century. Since the materials are disposed according to the anatomical structure of the head, they are smaller and lighter than the classical helmets.
MOTORCYCLE HELMETS
A motorcycle helmet is a type of protective headgear used by motorcycle riders. The primary goal of a motorcycle helmet is motorcycle safety - to protect the rider's head during impact, thus preventing or reducing head injury or saving the rider's life. Some helmets provide additional conveniences, such as ventilation, face shields, ear protection, intercom etc. Helmets can have some inconveniences, such as being hot, heavy, or itchy.
BASIC TYPES OF MOTORCYCLE HELMETS
There are four basic types of motorcycle helmets. All of these types of helmets are secured by a chin strap, and their protective benefits are greatly reduced, if not eliminated, if the chin strap is not securely fastened so as to maintain a snug fit.
Full face
A full face helmet covers the entire head, with a rear that covers the base of the skull, and a protective section over the front of the chin. Such helmets have an open cutout in a band across the eyes and nose, with a plastic face shield (which may be clear or tinted) that generally swivels up and down to allow access to the face. Many full face helmets include vents to increase the airflow to the rider.
Open face
This helmet's rear also covers the back of the skull, but lacks the lower chin armor of the full face helmet, as well as the face shield. Many offer visors of selectable length, some clear, some tinted, which may be used by the rider to block out sunlight or headlights. An open face helmet provides the same rear protection as a full face helmet, but little protection to the face, even from non-crash events. Bugs, dust or even wind to the face and eyes can cause rider discomfort or injury. As a result, it is not uncommon (and in some states, is required by law) for riders to wear wrap-around sunglasses or goggles to supplement eye protection with these helmets.
Half helmet
The half helmet, also referred to as a "shorty", has essentially the same front design as an open face helmet but with a raised rear. The half helmet provides the minimum coverage generally allowed by law in the US. As with the open face, it is not uncommon to augment this helmet's eye protection through other means. Unlike open face and full face helmets, half helmets are also prone to shifting and sometimes coming off of the rider's head during an accident.
Others
There are other types of headwear - often called "beanies" or "novelty helmets" (a term which arose since they can not legally be called "motorcycle helmets") - which are not certified and generally only used to provide the illusion of compliance with mandatory helmet laws. Such items are often smaller and lighter than DOT-approved helmets, and are unsuitable for crash protection because they lack the energy-absorbing foam that protects the brain by allowing it to come to a gradual stop during an impact. A "novelty helmet" can protect the scalp against sunburn while riding and - if it stays on during a crash - might protect the scalp against abrasion, but it has no capability to protect the skull or brain from an impact.
CONSTRUCTION
Modern helmets are constructed from plastics. Premium price helmets are sometimes reinforced with kevlar or carbon fiber. They generally have fabric and foam interiors for both comfort and protection. Motorcycle helmets are generally designed to break in a crash (thus expending the energy otherwise destined for the wearer's skull), so they provide little or no protection after their first impact. Note that impacts may, of course, come from things other than crashing, such a dropping a helmet, and may not cause any externally visible damage. For the best protection, helmets should be replaced after any impact, and every three or so years even if no impact is known to have occurred.
ORIGIN
Helmets were among the oldest forms of combat protection.they were purely military equipment, protecting the head from cutting blows with swords, flying arrows, and low-velocity musketry.The Napoleonic era saw ornate cavalry helmets reintroduced for cuirassiers and dragoons in some armies; they continued to be used by French forces during World War I as late as 1915, when they were replaced by the new French Adrian helmet. It was soon followed by the adoption of similar steel helmets by the other warring nations.World War I and its increased use of heavy artillery had renewed the need for steel helmets, which were quickly introduced by all the combatant nations for their foot soldiers. In the 20th century, such helmets offered protection for the head from shrapnel and spent, or glancing, bullets.
FUNCTION AND STRUCTURE
Despite various designs and requirements, helmets attempt to protect the user's head through a mechanical energy-absorption process. Therefore, their structure and protective capacity are altered in high-energy impacts. Beside their energy-absorption capability, their volume and weight are also important issues, since higher volume and weight increase the injury risk for the user's head and neck.
Classical helmets from the ancient Greeks to today treat the head uniformly and are currently tested on rigid headforms. Anatomical helmets adapted to the inner head structure were invented by neurosurgeons at the end of the 20th century. Since the materials are disposed according to the anatomical structure of the head, they are smaller and lighter than the classical helmets.
MOTORCYCLE HELMETS
A motorcycle helmet is a type of protective headgear used by motorcycle riders. The primary goal of a motorcycle helmet is motorcycle safety - to protect the rider's head during impact, thus preventing or reducing head injury or saving the rider's life. Some helmets provide additional conveniences, such as ventilation, face shields, ear protection, intercom etc. Helmets can have some inconveniences, such as being hot, heavy, or itchy.
BASIC TYPES OF MOTORCYCLE HELMETS
There are four basic types of motorcycle helmets. All of these types of helmets are secured by a chin strap, and their protective benefits are greatly reduced, if not eliminated, if the chin strap is not securely fastened so as to maintain a snug fit.
Full face
A full face helmet covers the entire head, with a rear that covers the base of the skull, and a protective section over the front of the chin. Such helmets have an open cutout in a band across the eyes and nose, with a plastic face shield (which may be clear or tinted) that generally swivels up and down to allow access to the face. Many full face helmets include vents to increase the airflow to the rider.
Open face
This helmet's rear also covers the back of the skull, but lacks the lower chin armor of the full face helmet, as well as the face shield. Many offer visors of selectable length, some clear, some tinted, which may be used by the rider to block out sunlight or headlights. An open face helmet provides the same rear protection as a full face helmet, but little protection to the face, even from non-crash events. Bugs, dust or even wind to the face and eyes can cause rider discomfort or injury. As a result, it is not uncommon (and in some states, is required by law) for riders to wear wrap-around sunglasses or goggles to supplement eye protection with these helmets.
Half helmet
The half helmet, also referred to as a "shorty", has essentially the same front design as an open face helmet but with a raised rear. The half helmet provides the minimum coverage generally allowed by law in the US. As with the open face, it is not uncommon to augment this helmet's eye protection through other means. Unlike open face and full face helmets, half helmets are also prone to shifting and sometimes coming off of the rider's head during an accident.
Others
There are other types of headwear - often called "beanies" or "novelty helmets" (a term which arose since they can not legally be called "motorcycle helmets") - which are not certified and generally only used to provide the illusion of compliance with mandatory helmet laws. Such items are often smaller and lighter than DOT-approved helmets, and are unsuitable for crash protection because they lack the energy-absorbing foam that protects the brain by allowing it to come to a gradual stop during an impact. A "novelty helmet" can protect the scalp against sunburn while riding and - if it stays on during a crash - might protect the scalp against abrasion, but it has no capability to protect the skull or brain from an impact.
CONSTRUCTION
Modern helmets are constructed from plastics. Premium price helmets are sometimes reinforced with kevlar or carbon fiber. They generally have fabric and foam interiors for both comfort and protection. Motorcycle helmets are generally designed to break in a crash (thus expending the energy otherwise destined for the wearer's skull), so they provide little or no protection after their first impact. Note that impacts may, of course, come from things other than crashing, such a dropping a helmet, and may not cause any externally visible damage. For the best protection, helmets should be replaced after any impact, and every three or so years even if no impact is known to have occurred.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
The raga table
MELAKARTA RAGA SCHEME
Venkatamakhi, who lived in the 16th century, structured the Carnatic music ragas into a mathematical table based on a scientific classification of their swaras. He identified a total of 72 ragas as Melakarta ragas or Janaka (the parent) ragas. All other ragas must be born out of one of the 72 ragas and therefore, are children ragas or Janya ragas.
These 72 ragas each have a name and are classified into two major groups of 36 each. The first set of 36 ragas all have one common swaram, the Sudha Madhyamam and the second set of 36 ragas all have one common swaram, the Prathimadhyamam. With in these two sets of 36 ragas each, they are further sub-divided into groups of six ragas for each group.
One of the characteristics of Janaka raga or a Melakarta raga is that in each raga, all seven swaras occur in either the arohanam or ascending order or the avarohanam or the descending scales. That is, they would be Sampoornam or would contain a complete set of the swaras. Of the seven swaras (eight, when we include the swaram Sa that is repeated at the end of the seventh), the first four Sa-Ri-Ga-Ma are called Purvanga swaras and the remaining Pa-Da-Ni (or the higher end swaras) are called the Uttaranga swaras. The note Pa or Panchamam does not vary and is fixed. Of the remaining two swaras Da and Ni, Da or the Daivatham can occupy three positions or three variations and Ni or the Nishadham for two positions (although it can occupy three positions, because the Ni has to be always be higher than the Da, in practice, it allows only two variations). Therefore, the three uttaranga swaras can provide six variations as follows:
(1) Pa - Da (Suddha Dhaivatham)- Ni (Suddha Nishadam) - Sa
(2) Pa – Da (Suddha Dhaivatham) –Ni (Kaisika Nishadam) - Sa
(3) Pa – Da (Suddha Dhaivatham) – Ni (Kakali Nishadam) - Sa
(4)
Please note that because Suddha Nishadam has the swara position as Chatusruthi Dhaivatham, only one can be used at any given time.
(5) Pa – Da (Chatusruthi Dhaivatham) - Ni (Kakali Nishadam) - Sa
(6) Pa – Da (Shatsruthi Dhaivatham) – Ni (Kakali Nishadam) - Sa
From these combinations of variations in uttaranga swaras and the fixed notes, seventy Melakarta ragas are formed (with each raga having seven notes in the ascending and seven notes in the descending). From out of these seventy two Melakarta ragas, numerous janya ragas or children ragas are born by varying the ascending and descending scales, by adding or subtracting one more notes in the ascending or descending scales.
Now, let us move on to the classification tables. As stated earlier, the 72 Melakarta ragas are divided into two main groups based on the madhyama swara of MA. There are 36 ragas with Suddhamadhyama and there are 36 ragas with Pratimadhyama to form a total of 72 Melakarta ragas. Each of them is further divided into groups of six ragas or Chakras. Ragas within a charka will have identical one of the following three notes: rishabam or Ri, gandharam or Ga, and Madhyamam or Ma. The following table illustrates the grouping.
Shudda madyama M1 | Prathi madyama M2 | |||
Chakra 1 | Chakra 7 | |||
1 | kanakaangi (kanakaambari) | R1 G1 D1 N1 | 37 | saalagam (sowgandini) |
2 | ratnaangi (phEnadhyuti) | R1 G1 D1 N2 | 38 | jalaarnavam (jaganmOhinam) |
3 | gaanamoorti (gaanasaamavaraaLi) | R1 G1 D1 N3 | 39 | jhaalavaraaLi (dhaalivaraaLi) |
4 | vanaspati (bhaanumati) | R1 G1 D2 N2 | 40 | navaneetam (nabhOmaNi) |
5 | maanavati (manOranjani) | R1 G1 D2 N3 | 41 | paavani (kumbhini) |
6 | taanaroopi (tanukeerti) | R1 G1 D3 N3 | 42 | raghupriyaa (ravikriyaa) |
Chakra 2 | Chakra 8 | |||
7 | sEnaavati (sEnaagraNi) | R1 G2 D1 N1 | 43 | ghavaambhodi (geervaaNi) |
8 | hanumatODi (janatODi) | R1 G2 D1 N2 | 44 | bhaavapriya (bhavaani) |
9 | dhEnukaa (dhunibhinnashadjam) | R1 G2 D1 N3 | 45 | shubhapantuvaraaLi (shivapantuvaraaLi) |
10 | naaTakapriyaa (naTabharaNam) | R1 G2 D2 N2 | 46 | shhadvidamaargini (stavaraajam) |
11 | kOkilapriyaa (kOkilaaravam) | R1 G2 D2 N3 | 47 | suvarnaangi (sowveeram) |
12 | R1 G2 D3 N3 | 48 | divyamaNi (jeevantikaa) | |
Chakra 3 | Chakra 9 | |||
13 | gaayakapriyaa (geya hejjajji) | R1 G3 D1 N1 | 49 | dhavalaambari (dhavalaangam) |
14 | vakulaabharaNam (vaaTee vasantabhairavi) | R1 G3 D1 N2 | 50 | naamanaaraayaNi (naamadEshi) |
15 | R1 G3 D1 N3 | 51 | kAmavardhini | |
16 | cakravaakam (tOyavEgavaahini) | R1 G3 D2 N2 | 52 | raamapriyaa (ramaamanOhari) |
17 | sooryakaantam (chaayaavati) | R1 G3 D2 N3 | 53 | gamanashramaa (gamakakriyaa) |
18 | haaTakaambari (jayashuddhamaaLavi) | R1 G3 D3 N3 | 54 | vishvaambhari (vamshavati) |
Chakra 4 | Chakra 10 | |||
19 | R2 G2 D1 N1 | 55 | shyaamaLaangi (shyaamaLam) | |
20 | naTabhairavi (naareereetigowLa) | R2 G2 D1 N2 | 56 | shhanmugapriyaa (caamaram) |
21 | keeravaaNi (keeraNaavaLi) | R2 G2 D1 N3 | 57 | simhEndra madhyamam (sumadyuti) |
22 | kharaharapriya (shreeraagam) | R2 G2 D2 N2 | 58 | hEmaavati (dEshisimhaaravam) |
23 | gowri manOhari (gowrivElaavaLi) | R2 G2 D2 N3 | 59 | dharmaavati (dhaamavati) |
24 | varuNapriyaa (veeravasantam) | R2 G2 D3 N3 | 60 | neetimati (nishhadam) |
Chakra 5 | Chakra 11 | |||
25 | maararanjani (sharaavati) | R2 G3 D1 N1 | 61 | kaantaamaNi (kuntaLam) |
26 | caarukEshi (tarangini) | R2 G3 D1 N2 | 62 | rishhabapriyaa (ratipriyaa) |
27 | sarasaangi (sowrasEnaa) | R2 G3 D1 N3 | 63 | lataangi (geetapriyaa) |
28 | harikaambhOji (harikEdaaragowLa) | R2 G3 D2 N2 | 64 | vaacaspati (bhooshaavati) |
29 | R2 G3 D2 N3 | 65 | mEcakalyaaNi (shaantakalyaaNi) | |
30 | nagaanandini (naagaabharaNam) | R2 G3 D3 N3 | 66 | citraambari (caturaaNgiNi) |
Chakra 6 | Chakra 12 | |||
31 | yaagapriyaa (kalaavati) | R3 G3 D1 N1 | 67 | sucaritra (santaana manjari) |
32 | raagavardhani (raagacooDaamaNi) | R3 G3 D1 N2 | 68 | jyOtiswaroopini (jyOti raaga) |
33 | gangayabhooshhani (gangaatarangini) | R3 G3 D1 N3 | 69 | dhaatuvardani (dhowta pancamam) |
34 | vaagadeeshwari (bhOgachaayaa naaTTai) | R3 G3 D2 N2 | 70 | naasikabhooshhaNi (naasaamaNi) |
35 | shoolini (shailadEshaakshhi) | R3 G3 D2 N3 | 71 | kosalam (kusumaakaram) |
36 | R3 G3 D3 N3 | 72 | rasikapriyaa (rasamanjari) |
From the names of the ragas, we will be able to identify the Melakarta to which it belongs. This is provided by the kaTapayadi scheme. According to this scheme, the first two letters of a raga will lead us to identify the melakarta to which it belongs. The following table is useful for this purpose.
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 0 |
ka | kha | ga | gha | Nga | Ca | cha | ja | Jha | nya |
Ta | Tha | Da | Dha | Na | Ta | tha | da | Dha | na |
pa | pha | ba | bha | Ma | |||||
ya | ra | la | va | Sha | Shha | sa | ha |
For example, the first two letters of the raga nagaanandini are na and ga and from the above table, you can locate these two consonants in column 0 and column 3. When you reverse the numbers 0 and 3, you get 30 are Melakarta 30. You can verify this from the table of Melakarta ragas provided above.
This is post is taken from the url : http://www.ipnatlanta.net/camaga/vidyarthi/Carnatic_Basics/Melakarta_Scheme.htm
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