Thursday, April 14, 2011

Lay Lady lay ... record-breaking osprey does it again with egg #59

A venerable osprey that has already set records for breeding success has delighted conservationists and bird lovers by laying her 59th egg, confounding fears she might never breed again.

The Scottish Wildlife Trust said that Lady, a 26-year-old osprey nesting at the Lowes wildlife reserve in Perthshire, had laid her first egg of the breeding season after her latest mate returned to their nest.

Spotted protectively hunched over an egg at 13.34 pm by Scottish Wildlife Trust staff, the osprey and its eggs are now the subjects of a 24-hour nest stakeout, funded thanks to and SITA Tayside Biodiversity FundPeople’s Postcode Lottery, to keep the birds and their eggs safe from wildlife crime.

Anna Cheshier, the Scottish Wildlife Trust’s Perthshire Ranger, said: “To see eggs on the nest again is simply remarkable. Osprey’s live an average of eight years and are estimated to produce 20 eggs during that time. Producing 59 eggs over 21 consecutive breeding years makes her an incredible specimen of the bird world.

“Ospreys were nearly extinct in the UK in the early 21st century after facing persecution, and the birds and eggs are still at risk from wildlife criminals and egg thieves. Thanks to funding from SITA Tayside Biodiversity Fund and People’s Postcode Lottery, and help from volunteers, we will watch over these ospreys day and night and hope to see chicks hatch in around five weeks.

“If chicks successfully hatch from the eggs, this osprey will have produced 50 chicks, an incredible contribution to the recovering osprey population breeding in Scotland. We hope to raise enough money to track these chicks using satellite tags this year, to find out about their inherited migration path and learn useful information which could help protect ospreys during migration.

"Until the eggs hatch, we will watch on as our female osprey incubates the eggs, while her mate occasionally takes a turn during daylight hours. He also has the role of catching fish to feed the pair."

Ospreys normally lay two to four eggs per season, so the reserve is hoping for at least one further egg to be laid, with the first chick expected within a week. The drama is being streamed live around the world, with a "nest cam" trained on the eyrie.

Lady (at left with first egg) broke another record last month when she returned for her 21st season at the Lowes reserve from a 6,000-mile round trip to winter in Gambia. After surviving a difficult summer when she fell seriously ill from dehydration and starvation, the trust feared she was unlikely to return home.

With the completion of this current grueling 3,000-mile migration from her wintering grounds in West Africa to her summer breeding territory at Loch of the Lowes in Perthshire, she has now traveled a total distance equivalent to around halfway to the moon.

Most ospreys live to be eight or 10 in the wild, producing up to 20 eggs; Lady is now 26 and has bred 48 surviving chicks. That total means she is now one of Britain's most important birds of prey, a matriarch playing a significant role in propping up the species' numbers.

Persecuted to extinction as a breeding bird in the UK in 1916, the osprey recolonized naturally in the 1950s but remains one of the UK's rarest birds of prey (at left Lady with egg). It is less common than the golden eagle, with an estimated 200 breeding pairs around Britain.

Source:
London Guardian,"Lay Lady lay ... record-breaking osprey does it again with egg #59", by Severin Carrell, accessed April 13, 2011
BBC, "Oldest osprey 'Lady' lays 59th egg at Loch of Lowes", accessed April 13, 2011
Walk Highlands, "Oldest Osprey lays 59th egg", accessed April 13, 2011
Scottish Wildlife Trust, "Oldest Osprey lays 59th egg", accessed April 13, 2011

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Short Christian devotionals or writings or sermons for encouragements

Believer Encouragements

Taken from CH Spurgeon's Morning and Evening, 14 April, Evening

“Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him.” - Isaiah 3:10

It is well with the righteous ALWAYS. If it had said, “Say ye to the righteous, that it is well with him in his prosperity,” we must have been thankful for so great a boon, for prosperity is an hour of peril, and it is a gift from heaven to be secured from its snares: or if it had been written, “It is well with him when under persecution,” we must have been thankful for so sustaining an assurance, for persecution is hard to bear; but when no time is mentioned, all time is included. God’s “shalls” must be understood always in their largest sense. From the beginning of the year to the end of the year, from the first gathering of evening shadows until the day-star shines, in all conditions and under all circumstances, it shall be well with the righteous. It is so well with him that we could not imagine it to be better, for he is well fed, he feeds upon the flesh and blood of Jesus; he is well clothed, he wears the imputed righteousness of Christ; he is well housed, he dwells in God; he is well married, his soul is knit in bonds of marriage union to Christ; he is well provided for, for the Lord is his Shepherd; he is well endowed, for heaven is his inheritance. It is well with the righteous-well upon divine authority; the mouth of God speaks the comforting assurance. O beloved, if God declares that all is well, ten thousand devils may declare it to be ill, but we laugh them all to scorn. Blessed be God for a faith which enables us to believe God when the creatures contradict him. It is, says the Word, at all times well with thee, thou righteous one; then, beloved, if thou canst not see it, let God’s word stand thee in stead of sight; yea, believe it on divine authority more confidently than if thine eyes and thy feelings told it to thee. Whom God blesses is blest indeed, and what his lip declares is truth most sure and steadfast.

Taken from Charles H Spurgeon's Morning and Evening, 14 April, Evening

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Orgasm for Relief of Restless Legs Syndrome: A Case Study



What is restless legs syndrome?

Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a neurological disorder characterized by throbbing, pulling, creeping, or other unpleasant sensations in the legs and an uncontrollable, and sometimes overwhelming, urge to move them. Symptoms occur primarily at night when a person is relaxing or at rest and can increase in severity during the night. Moving the legs relieves the discomfort. Often called paresthesias (abnormal sensations) or dysesthesias (unpleasant abnormal sensations), the sensations range in severity from uncomfortable to irritating to painful.
RLS is a relatively common movement disorder that affects ~2.7% of the population (Earley & Silber, 2010). RLS might be related to dysfunction in basal ganglia circuits that use dopamine, which is needed to produce smooth, purposeful muscle activity and movement. Disruption of these BG circuits can produce involuntary movements. Thus, dopaminergic drugs such as pramipexole and ropinirole are often used for treatment, but these medications can produce unwanted side effects.

A case study in the journal Sleep Medicine (Marin et al., 2011) reported on a patient who found his own method for the relief of his persistent RLS:
Sexual intercourse and masturbation: Potential relief factors for restless legs syndrome?

Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a distressing neurologic condition characterized by urgency to move the legs usually associated with unpleasant sensations in the lower limbs. The symptoms are worst at night and at rest, and patients must move their legs or walk to get relief from their symptoms. Herein, we report a 41-year-old man with a history of severe RLS for 10 years causing him difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep. He fulfilled the four essential criteria established by the International RLS Study Group and he scored 32 in the International RLS Rating Scale. The patient reported that he would get complete relief from RLS symptoms, granting him a normal sleep following sexual intercourse or masturbation. Pramipexole was introduced 2 h before bedtime with significant improvement of RLS symptoms, but whenever he was without medication, he returned to sexual behavior to get relief from RLS symptoms.

There are anecdotal reports that sexual activity and orgasm may relieve RLS symptoms, although in some cases sexual activity may worsen RLS. One may speculate that the release of orgasm-related dopamine and opioid may play a role in the relief of RLS symptoms. Additionally, there is a previous report of a RLS patient showing repetitive, rhythmic pelvic body movements resembling coital behavior at the wake–sleep transition.

References

Earley CJ, Silber MH. (2010). Restless legs syndrome: understanding its consequences and the need for better treatment. Sleep Med. 11:807-15.

Marin, L., Felicio, A., & Prado, G. (2011). Sexual intercourse and masturbation: Potential relief factors for restless legs syndrome? Sleep Medicine, 12 (4) DOI: 10.1016/j.sleep.2011.01.001



Short Christian devotionals or writings or sermons for encouragements

Believer Encouragements

Taken from CH Spurgeon's Morning and Evening, 14 April, Morning 

“All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head.” - Psalm 22:7

Mockery was a great ingredient in our Lord’s woe. Judas mocked him in the garden; the chief priests and scribes laughed him to scorn; Herod set him at nought; the servants and the soldiers jeered at him, and brutally insulted him; Pilate and his guards ridiculed his royalty; and on the tree all sorts of horrid jests and hideous taunts were hurled at him. Ridicule is always hard to bear, but when we are in intense pain it is so heartless, so cruel, that it cuts us to the quick. Imagine the Saviour crucified, racked with anguish far beyond all mortal guess, and then picture that motley multitude, all wagging their heads or thrusting out the lip in bitterest contempt of one poor suffering victim! Surely there must have been something more in the crucified One than they could see, or else such a great and mingled crowd would not unanimously have honoured him with such contempt. Was it not evil confessing, in the very moment of its greatest apparent triumph, that after all it could do no more than mock at that victorious goodness which was then reigning on the cross? O Jesus, “despised and rejected of men,” how couldst thou die for men who treated thee so ill? Herein is love amazing, love divine, yea, love beyond degree. We, too, have despised thee in the days of our unregeneracy, and even since our new birth we have set the world on high in our hearts, and yet thou bleedest to heal our wounds, and diest to give us life. O that we could set thee on a glorious high throne in all men’s hearts! We would ring out thy praises over land and sea till men should as universally adore as once they did unanimously reject.

“Thy creatures wrong thee, O thou sovereign Good!
Thou art not loved, because not understood:
This grieves me most, that vain pursuits beguile
Ungrateful men, regardless of thy smile.”

Taken from Charles H Spurgeon's Morning and Evening, 14 April, Morning

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Antarctic Penguin Population Declines with Krill

Two species of Antarctic penguins have declined sharply over the past 30 years as their chief food source has been devastated by a combination of other predators, over-fishing, and rapidly melting sea ice caused by global warming, according to a new study released here Monday by the National Academy of Sciences.

The West Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) and adjacent Scotia Sea support abundant wildlife populations, many of
which were nearly wiped out by humans. This region is also among the fastest-warming areas on the planet, with 5–6 °C increases in mean winter air temperatures and associated decreases in winter sea-ice cover. These biological and physical perturbations have affected the ecosystem profoundly.

One hypothesis to explain the declining numbers of "ice-loving" species is the “sea-ice hypothesis,” which proposes that reductions in winter sea ice have led directly to declines in “ice-loving” species by decreasing their
winter habitat, while populations of “ice-avoiding” species have increased. However, 30 years of field studies and recent surveys of penguins throughout the WAP and Scotia Sea demonstrate this mechanism is not controlling penguin populations; populations of both ice-loving Adélie (at left) and ice-avoiding chinstrap penguins have declined significantly.

An alternative, more robust hypothesis that attributes both increases and decreases in penguin populations states that changes in the abundance of their main prey, Antarctic krill is the most likely causation. Unlike many other predators in this region, Adélie and chinstrap penguins were never directly harvested by man; thus, their population trajectories track the
impacts of biological and environmental changes in this ecosystem. Linking trends in penguin abundance with trends in krill (at right) biomass explains why populations of Adélie and chinstrap penguins increased after competitors (fur seals, baleen whales, and some fishes) were nearly extinguished in the 19th to mid-20th centuries and currently are decreasing in response to climate change.

Based on studies of Adelie and chinstrap penguins and the ecosystems that have sustained them dating back to the 1970s, the report found that dramatic declines in krill, the shrimp-like creatures that depend on sea ice for reproduction, are chiefly responsible for the more than 50- percent plunge in the flightless birds' populations in the South Shetland Islands.

Krill form the basis of the marine food web, supporting organisms ranging from fish and penguins to whales. Krill feed on phytoplankton -- basically, ice algae -- that grow lushly on the undersides of ice floes.

Krill are tiny crustaceans, specially adapted to graze for the tiny plants among the ice crystals. But in the last few decades, winter ice has formed later in the season and has covered less area and spring melt comes earlier. Without ice, krill's feeding is disrupted and populations fall.

The Adelie penguins, which favor sea-ice habitat during the winter, have
declined at a 2.9 percent rate a year over the last decade, while chinstrap penguins, which favor open water, have declined by an even greater 4.3 percent annual rate over the same period, according to the study.

Previously, some scientists had predicted that the decline in sea-ice habitat in the Antarctic caused by warming air and water temperatures would have a more negative impact on the Adelie penguin populations given their greater dependence on sea ice as a habitat.

Under that so-called "sea-ice hypothesis", the chinstrap penguins were expected to increase their population, at least relative to their Adelie cousins.

But the study found that the abundance – or lack – of krill appears to be playing a greater role in reducing the two species' populations.

Krill feed on photoplankton (right) that thrive under sea ice. According to other recent studies, the krill population in the Southern Ocean has declined by as much as 80 percent since the 1970s.

"For penguins and other species, krill is the linchpin in the food web," according to Dr. Wayne Trivelpiece, the lead author and a seabird researcher with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Antarctic Ecosystem Research Division.
"Regardless of their environmental preferences, we see a connection between climate change and penguin populations through the loss of habitat for their main food source," he said. "As warming continues, the loss of krill (left) will have a profound effect throughout the Antarctic ecosystem."
The Antarctic is among the fastest warming ecosystems on Earth. Mean winter air temperatures have increased by five to six degrees Centigrade since the 1970s.

The warming has reduced both the extent and duration of winter sea ice on which photoplankton and thus krill - and ultimately penguins -
depend.

"If warming continues, winter sea-ice may
disappear from much of this region and exacerbate krill and penguin declines," according to the study. (At right: cloud of krill)

The decline in krill, however, is not due to the disappearance of sea-ice alone, according to the report, which also cited commercial fishing for krill by specialized trawlers beginning nearly 40 years ago and growing competition for krill by recovering whale and fur seal populations.

Indeed, populations of both Adelie and chinstrap penguins grew steadily between the 1930s and the 1970s as a result of the losses sustained by the two sea mammals hunted by humans.

"Penguins are excellent indicators of changes to the biological and environmental health of the broader ecosystem because they are easily accessible while breeding on land, yet they depend entirely on food resources from the sea," according to Trivelpiece.

"In addition, unlike many other krill-eating top predators in the Antarctic, such as whales and fur seals, they were not hunted by humans," he said. "When we see steep declines in populations, as we have been documenting with both chinstrap (right) and Adelie penguins, we know there's a much larger ecological problem."

Fewer of the juvenile penguins survive what scientists call their
"transition to independence" because there isn't enough krill to go around, according to a study published on Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academic of Sciences.

The study found only 10 percent of young penguins (at left: young penguins with adult chinstrap penguin) survive the first independent trip back to their colonies from their winter habitat, said lead author Wayne Trivelpiece, a sea bird expert at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Antarctic Ecosystem Research Division.

When the study began, back in the mid-1970s, the chances that a two-to-four-year-old penguin would survive the trip was about 50 percent

Trevilpiece stated, "What's changed is young penguins surviving their
transition to independence," he said. "They're no longer able to do that anywhere near the way they used to do, and we think that's directly related to the fact that there's 80 percent less krill out there now."

The study was funded in part by the Lenfest Ocean Program, which supports research on the global marine environment.

Source:
IPS News,"Antarctic Penguin Population Declines with Krill", by Jim Lobe, accessed April 12, 2011
William's Page, "Fact pictures of penguins", by William, accessed April 12, 2011
Reuters, "Fewer penguins survive warming Antarctic climate", by Deborah Zabarenko, accessed April 12, 2011
Proceedings of the National Academy of Science of the US, "Variability in krill biomass links harvesting and climate warming to penguin population changes in Antarctica", by Wayne Z. Trivelpiece, et. al, accessed April 12, 2011

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Short Christian devotionals or writings or sermons for encouragements

Believer Encouragements

Taken from CH Spurgeon's Morning and Evening, 13 April, Evening

“And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt- offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him.” - Leviticus 1:4

Our Lord’s being made “sin for us” is set forth here by the very significant transfer of sin to the bullock, which was made by the elders of the people. The laying of the hand was not a mere touch of contact, for in some other places of Scripture the original word has the meaning of leaning heavily, as in the expression, “thy wrath lieth hard upon me” (Psa_88:7). Surely this is the very essence and nature of faith, which doth not only bring us into contact with the great Substitute, but teaches us to lean upon him with all the burden of our guilt. Jehovah made to meet upon the head of the Substitute all the offences of his covenant people, but each one of the chosen is brought personally to ratify this solemn covenant act, when by grace he is enabled by faith to lay his hand upon the head of the “Lamb slain from before the foundation of the world.” Believer, do you remember that rapturous day when you first realized pardon through Jesus the sin-bearer? Can you not make glad confession, and join with the writer in saying, “My soul recalls her day of deliverance with delight. Laden with guilt and full of fears, I saw my Saviour as my Substitute, and I laid my hand upon him; oh! how timidly at first, but courage grew and confidence was confirmed until I leaned my soul entirely upon him; and now it is my unceasing joy to know that my sins are no longer imputed to me, but laid on him, and like the debts of the wounded traveller, Jesus, like the good Samaritan, has said of all my future sinfulness, ‘Set that to my account.’“ Blessed discovery! Eternal solace of a grateful heart!

“My numerous sins transferr’d to him,
Shall never more be found,
Lost in his blood’s atoning stream,
Where every crime is drown’d!”

Taken from Charles H Spurgeon's Morning and Evening, 13 April, Evening

On this site you can also find: Encouragements for Christian / Christian encouragements / Encouragements Quotes / Poem encouraging believers / Christian encouragement quotes / simple Christian sermons on encouragement / christian encouragements / biblical sermon on encouragement / Christian bookmark templates / 2010 Christian calendar template / Free printable Bible quotes / Free encouraging sermons / Biblical verse of encouragement for the believers and sermons / Free Christian encouraging images / Free christian encouraging pictures /  Christian encouragements phrases

Short Christian devotionals or writings or sermons for encouragements

Believer Encouragements

Taken from CH Spurgeon's Morning and Evening, 13 April, Morning 

“A bundle of myrrh is my well-beloved unto me.” Song of Solomon 1:13

Myrrh may well be chosen as the type of Jesus on account of its preciousness, its perfume, its pleasantness, its healing, preserving, disinfecting qualities, and its connection with sacrifice. But why is he compared to “a bundle of myrrh”? First, for plenty. He is not a drop of it, he is a casket full. He is not a sprig or flower of it, but a whole bundle. There is enough in Christ for all my necessities; let me not be slow to avail myself of him. Our well-beloved is compared to a “bundle” again, for variety: for there is in Christ not only the one thing needful, but in “him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily,” everything needful is in him. Take Jesus in his different characters, and you will see a marvellous variety-Prophet, Priest, King, Husband, Friend, Shepherd. Consider him in his life, death, resurrection, ascension, second advent; view him in his virtue, gentleness, courage, self-denial, love, faithfulness, truth, righteousness-everywhere he is a bundle of preciousness. He is a “bundle of myrrh” for preservation-not loose myrrh to be dropped on the floor or trodden on, but myrrh tied up, myrrh to be stored in a casket. We must value him as our best treasure; we must prize his words and his ordinances; and we must keep our thoughts of him and knowledge of him as under lock and key, lest the devil should steal anything from us. Moreover, Jesus is a “bundle of myrrh” for speciality. The emblem suggests the idea of distinguishing, discriminating grace. From before the foundation of the world, he was set apart for his people; and he gives forth his perfume only to those who understand how to enter into communion with him, to have close dealings with him. Oh! blessed people whom the Lord hath admitted into his secrets, and for whom he sets himself apart. Oh! choice and happy who are thus made to say, “A bundle of myrrh is my well-beloved unto me.”


Taken from Charles H Spurgeon's Morning and Evening, 13 April, Morning

On this site you can also find: Encouragements for Christian / Christian encouragements / Encouragements Quotes / Poem encouraging believers / Christian encouragement quotes / simple Christian sermons on encouragement / christian encouragements / biblical sermon on encouragement / Christian bookmark templates / 2010 Christian calendar template / Free printable Bible quotes / Free encouraging sermons / Biblical verse of encouragement for the believers and sermons / Free Christian encouraging images / Free christian encouraging pictures /  Christian encouragements phrases