Poetry (Literature)

Poetry Definition:

• Poetry is more than just rhyming words.
• Poetry doesn't even have to rhyme as the main ingredients are movement & sound.
• Movement & sound along with feeling are what make poetry.

Poetry General Facts:

• Poetry is an art form.
• It is something that can not be judged on superficial appearances.
• Poetry is first and foremost about expression.
• The expression in poetry describes the way we feel about a certain subject through imagery & other senses.
• The emotion in the poem is what brings it to life - 'life through words'.
• Without emotion the words are simply prose.
• Because of the emotional component, poetry will make us have many feelings such as - happy or sad, loving or broken hearted, mad or gleeful.
• Our poetry is our life, not what someone tells us is so.
• The use of rhyming is not always good as it limits many words that could give flow to the poem, and flow should take preference to rhyme.
• There are around 51 forms of poetry.

Poetry Forms:
ABC | Acrostic | Ballad | Ballade | Blank verse | Bio | Burlesque | Canzone | Carpe diem | Cinquain | Classicism | Couplet | Dramatic monologue | Elegy | Epic | Epigram | Epitaph | Epithalamium (Epithalamion) | Free verse (vers libre) | Ghazal | Haiku | Horatian ode | Iambic pentameter | Idyll (Idyl) | Irregular (Pseudo-Pindaric or Cowleyan) ode | Italian sonnet | Lay | Limerick | List | Lyric | Memoriam stanza | Name | Narrative | Ode | Pastoral | Petrarchan | Pindaric ode | Quatrain | Rhyme | Rhyme royal | Romanticism | Rondeau | Senryu | Sestina | Shakespearean | Shape | Sonnet | Tanka | Terza Rima | Verse | Villanelle |

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Haast's Eagle (Harpagornis moorei) Extinct

Haast's Eagle Facts:

• Haast's Eagle (Harpagornis moorei), was a massive, now extinct eagle.
• Once lived on the South Island of New Zealand.
• Believed to be the largest eagle known to have existed.
• Picture shows Haast's Eagle attacking Moa (via PLoS).
  

Haast's Eagle Physical:

• Haast's Eagles were the largest true raptors.
• Females - weights of 10–15 kg (22–33 lb).
• Males - weights of 9–12 kg (20–26 lb).
• Short wingspan of ~ 2.6–3 metres, possibly because needed to hunt in the dense scrubland & forests.
• The strong legs and massive flight muscles likely enabled it to take off from a jumping start.
• The total length up to 1.4 metres in females, & standing height ~ 90 cm.

Haast's Eagle Habits:

• Preyed on large, flightless bird species, including the moa.
• In the absence of other large predators the Eagle could have easily monopolised a single large kill.

Haast's Eagle Extinction:

• Possibly became extinct because of competition with the Māori (who arrived ~ 1,000 years ago) for the limited supply of large flightless birds, which became hunted to extinction.
• The Haast's Eagle become extinct around 1400 CE.
• There have been recent reports that the Haast's Eagle may have even preyed on humans.

Image Credit - Public Library of Science (cc)

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Dan Zhu (丹朱) (Chinese History)

Dan Zhu (丹朱) Demographics:

• Father - Emperor Yao Di (Tang Yao).
• Mother - concubine San Yi.

Dan Zhu (丹朱) Important Facts:

• Legend is that the semi-mythical Emperor Yao (2357-2255 B.C.) invented Go (Weiqi) to enlighten his low intelligence son Dan Zhu.
• Dan Zhu is reported to have spent most his time playing Go.
• Emperor Yao believed Dan Zhu was not suitable for anything other than Go.
• Dan Zhu was exiled to present day Zhucheng in Shandong by his father.
• Dan Zhu is portrayed in history texts as a villainous son compared with the virtuous nature of his Emperor father.
  

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Christian The Lion

This is a heart-warming story about a lion called Christian who was bought from Harrod's department store as a 35 pound cub in 1969 by friends Ace Berg and John Rendall. Christian had been born in a zoo and was raised by the 2 friends in their London flat. Unfortunately within 12 months Christian was too big to be appropriately kept in the home and so it was decided to release him back to the wild in Kenya.

Rendall and Berg, in 1974, decided to visit Christian again in Kenya for one last time. After many hours searching the Kenyan reservation Christian finally showed up. The emotional meeting was captured on film. Christian even introduced his mate to meet Berg & Rendall. A portion of the documentary about Christian the lion and his previous owners is shown in the youtube video segments below.





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Neutrophil Granulocytes

Neutrophil Basic Facts:

• Generally referred to as neutrophils.
• Most abundant type of white blood cells in mammals.
• Important part of the innate immune system.
• Included with basophils and eosinophils in the polymorphonuclear cell family.
• Typical staining characteristic with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) histological stain - neutral pink.
• The neutrophil nucleus is subdivided into 2-5 lobes.
• The cells have an average diameter of 12-15 micrometers (µm).
• The normal count level in the blood is between 2.5-7.5 x 109/L.
• The half-life of non-activated neutrophils in the circulation is around half a day.

Neutrophils contain 3 types of granules:

• Azurophilic granules (or "primary granules") - containg defensins, myeloperoxidase, bactericidal-permeability increasing protein (BPI), neutrophil elastase and cathepsin G.
• Specific granules (or "secondary granules") - containing lactoferrin & cathelicidin.
• Tertiary granules - containing cathepsin & gelatinase.

Clinical Features:

• Neutrophils are the first responders in tissue inflammation.
• They undergo chemotaxis in response to chemical signals such as interleukin-8 (IL-8), interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), C5a and TNF-alpha.
• Neutrophils are the major constituents of pus.
• The presence of neutrophils in tissues is the hallmark of inflammation.
• They also express & release cytokines that further amplify an inflammatory process.

Image Credit - Photos by murison (cc)

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Hula Hoop

Basic Hula Hoop Facts:
A hula hoop is a hoop that is twirled around the body.
Child hula hoops generally measure approximately 28 inches in diameter.
Adults hula hoops generally measure around 40 inches.
A good example of the skill that can be involved with using a hula hoop is shown in the video below.
It shows HOOPGIRL (aka Christabel), a hooper from San Francisco, with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background.



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Inflammation (Pathology)

Lung Inflammation (Wegener's Granulomatosis):

Basic Facts:

• Inflammation is a physiological response to tissue trauma or infection.
• Leukocytes are effector cells of the inflammatory response.
• Passage of leukocytes into tissues from the blood is heavily regulated.
• Early in inflammation there is recruitment of neutrophils to the involved tissue, with migration across endothelial cells and through the basement membrane.

Factors affecting neutrophil migration:

• Chemokine family peptides are believed to provide the chemotactic stimulus for neutrophils.
• Tumour necrosis factor alpha is essential for recruitment of flowing neutrophils to inflamed tissues.
• Neutrophil transit of the endothelial layer, however, is signalled by metabolism of the omega-6-polyunsaturated fatty acid (n-6-PUFA) arachidonic acid.
• The arachidonic acid is subsequently converted to prostaglandin D2 (PGD2) by cyclooxygenase (COX) enzymes.
• If the dietary n-3-PUFA, eicosapentaneoic acid (EPA) is used instead of n-6-PFA, so producing PGD3, then neutrophil migration across endothelial cells is inhibited.
• The mechanism of PGD3's action appears to be through antagonising binding at the neutrophil PGD2 receptor.

Clinical consequences:

• Inflammation plays a major role in the development of most diseases.
• NF-kB (nuclear transcription factor kappa beta) also has a significant role in diseases and inhibition (blocking) of NF-kB can also suppress inflammation.

Image Credits:
Wegener's granulomatosis - flickr by Pulmonary Pathology (cc)
Neutrophil recruitment by PLoS Biology article here.

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I Ain't Got No ... I Got Life!

"Ain't Got No/I Got Life"

Basic Facts:

• Single by Nina Simone, also featured on her album 'Nuff Said' (RCA, 1968).
• The song helped Nina Simone gain popularity with a younger audience.
• Medley of 2 songs from the musical Hair (lyrics James Rado & Gerome Ragni; music by Galt MacDermot).

Nina Simone - Ain't Got No...I've Got Life:



Medley of 2 songs from the musical Hair (lyrics James Rado & Gerome Ragni; music by Galt MacDermot) - See Below.


Hair - I Got Life:




Hair - Ain't Got No:



Appearances:

• Recorded by Red Box (British band) in 1986.
• Groovefinder remix of the song (2006).
• Musical backdrop to the Müller Corner adverts.
• Covered in Le Volume Courbe's album, 'I Killed My Best Friend'.

LYRICS

I ain't got no home, ain't got no shoes
Ain't got no money, Ain't got no class
Ain't got no skirts, Ain't got no sweater
Ain't got no perfume Ain't got no bed
Ain't got no mind,

Ain't got no mother Ain't got no culture
Ain't got no friends, aint got no schoolin'
Ain't got no love, Ain't got no name
Ain't got no ticket, Ain't got no token
Ain't got no god

and what have i got?
why am i alive anyway?
yeah what have i got?
nobody can take away?...

Got my hair. Got my head
Got my brains, Got my ears
Got my eyes, Got my nose
Got my mouth, I got my smile

I got my tongue, Got my chin
Got my neck, Got my boobies
Got my heart, Got my soul
Got my back, I got my sex

I got my arms, got my hands, got my fingers,
got my legs, got my feet, got my toes,
got my liver, got my blood..

I've got life,
i've got my freedom
i've got life
I've got life
and I am gonna keep it
I've got life
and nobody's gonna take it away
I've got life!

Ain't Got No - I Got Life (Nina Simone):




Red Box - Ain't Got No... I Got Life:




Muller Korner 16 Varieties Advert:




Groovefinder Remix (2006):



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