Power Energys

Medical Billing Outsourcing Versus In-house

2009-11-21T04:55:00.000-08:00

There are many compelling reasons why medical billing outsourcing to a professional medical billing and coding company makes sense. A major problem with in-house medical billing services is the human one. Management, turnover, retraining and growth. Do you have the time and money for all of that? HRM (Human Resource Management) is the most compelling single reason why physicians and other medical service providers outsource their medical billing to a medical billing company that specializes in providing this service.

HRM problems come about from two areas, employee turnover and practice growth.
Reducing Employee Turnover With Medical Billing Outsourcing:
While your practice may be lucky by having people who have stayed with you through the years, the fact remains that they will, eventually, leave. Others are faced with an on-going turnover problem. In either event, once a medical billing specialist leaves, you are forced to fill the vacant spot right away or your cash-flow may be compromised. That often means hiring someone with lesser …or worse yet very little medical billing experience. Inexperienced medical billing specialist make errors ... errors that can cost your practice money or seriously delay your getting paid in a timely manner. Also, who will take the time to train your new medical billing specialist? Will you spend your time doing this? Or will you pay someone else to do it? Is that a good use of your time? Even if you still have other medical billing specialists, their use in training will take away from their time normally spent in helping to get you paid in a timely manner. Medical billing outsourcing avoids these problems all together.

Many medical practices go through high turnover periods, while others find loyal people who dedicate many years to working for the same Physician. The human resource management cycle can be very difficult for a Physician to maintain. Once the medical billing specialist leaves, the Physician is left with no other option and is usually forced to hire another medical billing specialist who has very little experience. Ask yourself this question, when would you be the most worried; when your receptionist quits or when your medical billing specialist leaves? Do you really have the time to find a medical billing specialist who is experienced and reliable and can do the right job with the amount of attention your medical billing deserves? Medical billing outsourcing is a better solution.

Growing a Professional Practice:

As your business grows, your revenues will grow and so will the medical billing and coding workload. However, your employee costs are fixed costs, while your billings and receivables are not fixed. So, when your business has grown to the point where the workload overtaxes the current medical billing personnel, you will need to add another medical billing specialist … maybe more. That is an abrupt increase in fixed costs, because now you are - in effect - overstaffed, as the volume of the workload has not as yet caught up to your newly-expanded billing capacity.

Use medical billing outsourcing to change your medical billing expenses from a fixed cost to a variable cost and improve your ability to manage your business.

When you choose medical billing outsourcing, your costs vary directly with your medical billings. If your medical billings drop, your costs drop. If your medical billings go up, your costs do not rise disproportionately. This simple fact can make your business planning easier.

Less Paperwork and Lower Employee Costs With Medical Billing Outsourcing

If you do your medical billing internally, salary is typically only about 70-75% of your employee costs when you figure in payroll taxes, FICA and insurance. Not to mention that added paperwork cost of administering them. Plus, when your medical billing specialists are sick or on vacation, you’re still paying them for not working. When you outsource your billing by taking advantage of our professional medical billing specialists, the overhead and paperwork is ours, not yours.

• Medical Billing Specialist's Employee salary
• Medical Billing Specialist's Employee benefits
o Worker’s compensation
o FICA
o Healthcare insurance
o Vacation, sick leave, etc.
o Performance bonus
• Computer hardware purchase & maintenance
• Software purchase & renewal
• Clearinghouse fees
• Postage
• Stationery
• Physical (Office) Space
• Training and re-training
• Recruitment costs
• YOUR time
• YOUR opportunity costs

Reduce Errors and Receive Revenue Faster With Medical Billing Outsourcing:

Medical Insurers are always looking for ways to slow down paying you. It’s how they manage their cash flow. Anything that is miscoded can cause your bill to be rejected or its payment delayed significantly. When you outsource your medical billing to our medical billing specialists, you’ll not only be getting professional medical billing services, you’ll be benefiting from a degree of accuracy that would be difficult to match internally. At Medical Billing, each submission is reviewed by a supervisor to help ensure accuracy. That “extra level of eyes” is a luxury impractical with in-house medical billing.

Our Incentive, Your Control

When you take advantage of medical billing outsourcing, you improve your cash flow and collections and reduce the costs and headaches of employee problems. And we can even offer you a line of credit at Below-Prime through Medical-Finance.com

Call now for a free consultation. Let our Medical Billing Specialists show you how to keep more of the money you make. Outsourcing your medical billing services allows the money you get to grow in direct proportion to the direction your business is going.

This article was written by the medical-billing.com staff.

Call to speak with one of our medical billing specialists at:

1-800-966-9270

Or visit us at:

1-800-966-9270
solutions@medical-billing.com

http://medical-billing.com

Understanding Nitrogen Cycle For New Tanks - 20 Interesting Facts Revealed

2009-11-17T17:22:00.000-08:00

There are several hobbies one can have that turn in to real passion some day. One among them is maintaining an aquarium. This hobby though is a serious one as there is no room for mistakes else you shall land up harming or killing a living creature.

The first and foremost thing you must understand before deciding to take care of an aquarium and its fishes is that prior to purchasing the fishes you must prepare the fish tank and make it apt for the fish to live in. This process needs lot of patience and knowledge else you might land up killing those beautiful creatures.

For preparing the fish tank you must first add the gravel and all other additives in the tank. Make sure that all these decorations are rinsed well so that the water is free of all harmful bacteria. The process of preparing the tank can take anywhere between 24 hours and 4 weeks.

Make sure that you do not use any soap while washing these substrates. Next, fill in the tank with dechlorinated water. Attach the filters & lighting. Now, allow the tank to cycle until at least once the water becomes clouded. Then allow the cloud to settle down. Make use of that test kit to check for the optimal temperature of water and for the sufficient P.H.

Also, be sure that you do not add any new fish to the tank until and unless the water in there is crystal clear.

Actually, when the aquarium is fully functional, some bacteria support the breakdown of ammonia in to nitrates. These bacteria are generated from the existing fish hence they are not there in a non-active fish tank. So, the crux of this explanation is that without any existing fish, there would be no good bacteria in the tank water.

This is called as the nitrogen cycle. You must know that the nitrogen cycle would not initiate until & unless you add fish to the tank. Hence, running the empty tank for quite a lot of days would not do any help.

The nitrogen cycle that takes place in the fish tank clears away the toxic chemicals being generated in there in to beneficial ones. This cycle generates foam that makes the water cloudy for sometime. This is a natural process and you do not have to worry if this happens, rather it proves that the tank is healthy enough for the fish.

Here are some simple points to understand what nitrogen exactly is:

1. Like all living beings the fishes eat food & generate waste or excreta.

2. This waste combines with the excess food that settles down at the base of the tank and the plant debris forming ammonia in your aquarium.

3. Ammonia is quite toxic and hence pretty harmful for the fishes, therefore we need to imply a mechanism to break it down.

4. This mechanism is the nitrifying of bacteria.

5. These bacteria turn the ammonia in the aquarium in to nitrites that are rather tolerable to the fishes.

6. Next, the varied nitrifying bacteria would convert the nitrites in to nitrates that are further less toxic for the fish & other aquarium life.

7. These nitrates are collected & minimized by filters. They would eventually accumulate in your tank.

Know your fish

Here are some types of fish that we recommend you to place in your aquarium:

1. Hardy fishes like barb, danios, gouramis, and other live bearers are known for their ability to withstand quite high nitrite levels & ammonia that are generated in a new aquarium.

2. Check that the ideal way is to introduce only one fish at a time, and gradually increase the number of fishes in the tank. You could also consider starting with 4 different types of hardy fishes, one of each type.

3. The right way to add a fish in the tank is that you must afloat the fish in a bag in to the aquarium for around 15 minutes prior to leaving them in the tank. This would help your fish get acclimated to the temperature of the water in its new home.

4. Make sure that you do not add the water of the fish bag in to the aquarium as this water might be contaminated, or would at times affect the temperature of the aquarium and the P.H. level of the water in there.

5. Before giving the first ever feed to the fish, give it at least two hours to get acquainted with its new house.

6. While purchasing the first fish of yours, be sure to purchase some food for it. Remember that you should feed only small amounts of the food initially.

7. The food that remains settles down at the bottom and rots down finally. This rotten food becomes debris and develops severely toxic chemicals that can kill your fish that is ammonia. So, try to maintain the least amount of remaining food. This thing must be taken are of in the newly set up aquariums especially those that lack the nitrifying bacteria.

8. The trick to do it simply is to watch your fish while feeding them. Only put in the amount of food it consumes in the first 2-3 minutes, that to only twice a day. In case of food, also make sure to read through the label of the fish that you always get on the purchase of the fish.

9. During the first month, make sure to test the level of P. H. in the water everyday.

10. In case the tank is getting cloudy; it is time to add some clarifiers in the water.

11. Monitor your fish well enough for any signs of ailment or stress.

12. The usual behavior study of the fish in the aquarium explains that the healthy fish would swim regularly and the lethargic ones would usually hover around the surface of its aquarium.

13. Hence, water in the tank must be changed regularly, especially when it is new. For the new fish tank you must consider changing around 10% of its total water every few days. This must be done for at least the first few weeks or so.

Abhishek is an avid Fish Lover and he has got some great Aquarium Care Secrets up his sleeves! Download his FREE 105 Pages Ebook, "Aquarium Care Made Easy!" from his website http://www.Wonder-Homes.com/636/index.htm . Only limited Free Copies available.

Medical Malpractice : Tragic But Very Common

2009-11-11T00:04:00.000-08:00

Medical malpractice can occur whenever a patient is in the care of a healthcare professional. This can involve the failure or delay in properly diagnosing or treating an illness or injury so that it causes new or aggravated injuries.

Highly experienced and knowledgeable medical malpractice attorneys help thousands of people every year who have been the victim of medical malpractice or medical negligence.

Many people do not realize how frequently medical malpractice occurs. In fact, thousands of people every year are either injured from medical malpractice or medical negligence, or die from injuries or illnesses that could have been prevented or treated with proper medical care.

If you or a loved one has been injured or if a loved one has died as a result of medical malpractice, contact an experienced medical malpractice attorney. Medical malpractice claims can be difficult because health records must be researched and rules and regulations must be followed in order to prove that injuries were sustained or aggravated as a result of the medical malpractice or medical negligence.

Since medical malpractice can occur in many different situations, medical malpractice claims can take many different forms, for many different reasons. Some of the common medical malpractice claims are:

· Birth Injury – when an infant is born, it is a very delicate situation, and medical malpractice can arise because of errors made in the delivery or care of the infant.
· Cerebral Palsy – is a medical condition that is caused by brain damage from a number of reasons. Many times, cerebral palsy is caused by medical malpractice or medical errors, such as birth injury.
· Failure to Diagnose – if your healthcare provider fails to diagnose you for an illness, they could be held liable for medical malpractice because they did not prescribe a treatment, and thus allowed the illness to progress.
· Medication Errors – if you are prescribed the wrong medication it is medical malpractice, and the results can be disastrous. If you are allergic to certain substances, the wrong medication can even cause death.
· Defective Medical Devices – if you are injured or suffer medical problems because you are prescribed or given a defective medical device, the healthcare provider can be held responsible for the resulting injury.
· Wrongful Death – Thousands of people die every year from medical malpractice. If you believe your loved one died due to medical malpractice, contact an experienced medical malpractice attorney.

Medical malpractice can cause serious health problems. If you have been the victim of medical malpractice, you are entitled to compensation for the resulting medical bills, lost wages, loss of enjoyment of life, and other damages.

Please contact the attorneys at Bush Lewis, P.L.L.C. today to schedule your confidential initial consultation. The attorneys at Bush Lewis serve clients in Beaumont, Orange and surrounding areas of Texas.
Grocery Store Shop At Home

Pontiac Daytona Prototype (dp) and Gt Teams Ready for the Race at the Glen

2009-11-09T17:54:00.000-08:00

Pontiac Daytona Prototype (DP) and GT teams are preparing for the second distance race of the season---the Sahlen’s Six hours at the Glen and the round six of the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Special Reserve which will be run on June 9, 2007, Saturday.

The Watkins Glen International raceway is considered to be historic with a 3.4-mile layout and 11 turns, it the third longest race on the Rolex Series schedule. The six-hour race will feature both GT and DP cars racing together for the first time in Mexico City.

With the DP, Pontiac the maker of high quality Pontiac oxygen sensor has been able to maintain a perfect pole qualifying streak for 2007. The top starting position has been dominated by Pontiac power, three teams, and four drivers. Colin Braun driving the No. 75 Krohn Racing Pontiac Riley has taken the pole in Mexico City and also at Virginia International Raceway.

Jan Magnussen driver of the No. 10 Sun Trust entry has obtained the top spot at Homestead. Alex Gurney and Jon Fogarty in the GAINSCO Pontiac have gotten two point starts to their credit, one at the Rolex 24 while the second at Laguna Seca.

Gurney and Fogarty are hoping to get their second win on the season with the first coming at Mexico City. The California duo have been heading the field all season and consistently qualifying at either first or second in every race so far.

The No.10 SunTrust Wayne Taylor Racing team will have a new driver to join the fold at the Glen. Jonathan Cochet is a Frenchman and will share duties with seasoned veteran Max Angelelli. Cochet will contribute a wealth of open-wheel experience as well as some DP driving miles to the SunTrust camp for this weekend’s race.

Currently the Khron Racing team is the defending six-hour winners from last year. Colin Braun was not able to participate last year since the track includes cigarette marketing contracts and prohibited minor drivers from joining the race. But Braun is now 18 years old and with Pontiac power and teammate Max Papis, the youngster believes that they have better chance to win this season.

The No.91 Riley-Mathews Motorsports Pontiac Riley that was driven by Jim Mathews and Marc Goosens is looking to be a factor in the race this weekend. The duo has improved tremendously with every race that they have joined and are now eyeing for a top finish.

For the No. 06 Pontiac GXP.R, Andy Pilgrim will join Tim Lewis Jr. and Leighton Reese at the Glen. All three drivers are fresh from a win last week with Reese and Lewis Jr. victorious at Lime Rock while Pilgrim won at Charlotte in Cadillac CTSV World Challenge car.

Paul Edwards and Kelly Collins currently sit third in the GT driver point standings. The duo has been fast all year and has led significant laps in the last two events at Lime Rock and Laguna Seca. They will bring the No. 07 Banner Pontiac GXP.R to the Glen and hopes to obtain their first win on the season.

The Six Hours of the Glen will start on Saturday, June 9 at 11:00 AM and will be televised on SPEED Channel in two segments. The first segment will start at 11:00 AM EDT while the second part will rejoin the action at 2:30 PM until the finish of the race.

Zeke Gervis has a degree in Human Resource Management. He is an F1 fanatic and is a collector of racing memorabilias. At present, he enjoys working at a consulting firm in Iowa.
Grocery Store Shop At Home

Paulownia tree Organic Nitrogen

2009-11-01T04:42:00.000-08:00

Possibly this is the largest, by comparable overall mass and weight, of

all nitrogenous species. Having originated in China, this deciduous

tree can easily grow to 50 feet, often with leaves to 20 inches across.

This tree grows FAST.

* From planting to 5 years, it can be felled as a stable millable

timber, used for artistic carpentry, veneers, glory-boxes, cabinet

making, general lightweight furniture and musical instruments;

* from 5 to 10 years, it can be milled for projects requiring a more resilient timber, such as chairs and interior walls;

* from 10 years and on, it becomes millable as a hardwood for construction and structural quality timber;

* has a very high ignition point, and is also rot and warp resistant.

* At any point in its growth after 3 years, it can be utilized to make rather excellent charcoal, for artworks.

All of these qualities make it a rather attractive timber commercially.

Once cut, at any age, after having shed its stored nitrogen -

comparable to the biomass it has lost, the stump will re-shoot. The

shed nitrogen becoming fertiliser for the soil. The re-growth can then

be selectively pruned to re-start the whole plantation process.

Grazing animals find the leaves quite palatable, too, and it is not

uncommon to let them graze on the re-growth between the rows in

plantation systems.

Compatible plant species, with particular micro-environmental climatic

needs, such as coffee, cocoa, lychees, or any other understorey crop

for that matter, fare very well with this system. (more about this in

another article)

After the second or third season of growth (now at approx. 16 feet),

Paulownias start to flower, adding yet another fascinating dimension to

this remarkable tree.

The flowers, from lilac, or light mauve to white, are produced on

panicles about 18 inches long, or deep, remarkably similar foxglove

flowers.

As each flower falls from the panicle, they make an audible sound when

they hit the ground, they are so heavy. The flowers are a prime source

of bee food and subsequently produce a light, uniquely flavored, high

quality honey.

The seed-pod is fairly non-descript, other than that it is a dry pod

containing myriad minute seeds. (more on this in a following article)

The leaves, being huge, either green or spent, make an excellent mulch, or green manure, high in nitrogen.

There is also anecdotal evidence of the leaves being used in alternative therapies, such as a hedge against intestinal worms.

Paulownias will grow in poor to degraded soils and are often used as a

reclamation species. The only apparent specific growing needs being,

plenty of sun and a dislike of wet feet.

Being a very deep rooted plant, and a phyto-remediator species,

Paulownias take up and process contaminants present in ruined land, in

return delivering masses of organic material to bolster the land.

Due to the rapid rate Paulownia trees grow and their ease of

regeneration, they make an excellent primary reclamation species,

especially if incorporated with grazing animals.

Biomass builds phenomenally fast using this method, and reclamation of ecologically ruined land, is actually assured.

Indeed the paulownia is almost a miracle tree.

Grocery Store Shop At Home

Alternative Medicine - Avenue for Medical Tourism

2009-10-31T17:02:00.000-07:00

The history of alternative medicine is a rather interesting one, and has its

origins in traditional methods of medicine. Alternative medicine has been
in existence since time immemorial. Being a primeval science, this medicinal
system has been known to man since the early days of his time on Earth. Using
natural ingredients to prevent and cure most illnesses has perhaps been man’s greatest foray into medical science. Traditional medical practitioners aimed at prevention of diseases associated with an increase in resistance of the human body. As an expert rightly pointed out, “The study of the history of alternative medicine is fascinating on a variety of levels, not just concerning other and often better ways of preserving and restoring health.”

Practised for thousands of years, alternative medicine includes systems like
Acupuncture, Ayurveda and traditional Asian medicine. Alternative medicine branches
out from the Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) treatments and
therapies. CAM is often combined with formal, conventional medicine, integrating
both medical practices, in order to give the best results to patients. It can be said that
the earlier methods of medicine were attempted at achieving a balance between bodily
and natural energy. Energies were sought as positive and negative energies, where
positive energies were to bring in happiness and health and negative energies an
incapacitation of resistance to face any ailments. Matters of utmost importance in
deciding therapies or treatments in these earlier medical systems were factors like
one’s lifestyle, one’s habits of eating and one’s occupational pressures.

Berry Tree Bears Fruit

2009-10-30T05:49:00.000-07:00

I am really happy to talk about the Berry Tree because it has been one of the best purchases we have made, both as a product in its own right and as one means to fulfil our quest for 'self sufficiency' online. The Berry Tree is MLM in the 21st century. The Berry Tree is a 'place' to purchase specific health products only available online and/or it can be a small and effective home based Internet business, the choice is yours. We use the product and have chosen to work with Berry Tree as a small business. This article features the product while the next article looks at the business opportunity.

The Berry Tree sells two products and the one we have direct experience with is called O2 Berry Proformance Hydration. Essentially O2 Berry Proformance Hydration is a water treatment product that radically enhances the properties of ordinary water by raising the levels of oxygen in the water. It is made from coral found exclusively on the Island of Okinawa Japan. Don't groan too loudly... yet, yes we have all heard stories about the amazing product hand picked by vestal virgins on a full moon in some remote village - somewhere. And O2 Berry Proformance Hydration, in our experience is different. The story goes like this:

You might remember a few years ago the famous book The Okinawa diet - a huge international best seller? Turns out the folks in Okinawa are some of the most long lived and healthy on the planet. Why??? The finding of numerous international research projects is that Okinawans drink water exclusively from their island. The water is filtered through a particular coral; so the island is a naturally occurring water treatment plant! Lucky Okinawans! Fortunately we stumbled across a video demonstrating the effects of this amazing coral. Watch the video and see for yourself; and all you soft drink/soda junkies please pay close attention to the segment at the end of the video - you will be amazed. Anyway, after viewing this same video we decided to do the free trial of the product and we have been consistently impressed with its performance. We are always more confident in those companies who are confident in their product to provide samples - especially on the net.

Anyway, we have subsequently tried the product with various people in a range of settings. All of them have responded well - even those unaware they were drinking 'treated' water. By responding well we mean that folks either recognised they felt better after drinking the water or, and this is the most interesting - they stopped showing obvious signs of tiredness and or jet lag - most noticeably, they stopped yawning. We have tried this time and again - especially with folks we are working with. If we start work in the clinic and we are yawning - or someone else is, we give them a glass of 'Berry Tree water' and they miraculously stop yawning and 'perk up'. Even Gez, our own in house skeptic has asked for some Berry Tree sachets on particularly slow days/daze... Remember the increased blood oxygen levels from the video? Well that has absolutely been our experience. Cool huh? It really is a fantastic and affordable health alternative - which also doubles as a source of income!

As one person from Berry Tree said to me, the coral also makes the water 'more wet' - a technical term :-) So for those folks who don't like to drink a lot of water - you can increase your water uptake or absorption without having to drink more. Great too for folks who are doing heavy exercise. Drinking a lot of water and heavy exercise often don't mix - so you can still exercise, drink less and enjoy the same benefits as if you had drunk more. I am searching out more information on how the product has this effect and will keep you posted.

More than that the Berry Tree coral alkalises water instantly and for those of you are interested in health you will be aware that research is increasing to directly link acidity with chronic disease. That this product can instantly turn water alkaline is phenomenal. And it removes chlorine - instantly. If you have a whiz bang filter at home great - maybe you don't need it - but remember at least one sample of the treated water in the video came from a 'water cooler' which is normally treated/filtered...this is a much healthier alternative. Sign up for a free trial and subject the water at your place to the same tests as on the video.

One great advantage of the product is its portability you simply carry the coral bags, buy water when you need it and treat the water. Each coral bag makes up to 900ml of treated water. We 'reuse' the bags by adding an additional coral sachet and refilling the bottle - great value for money.

After using this product for a number of months and seeing the results we both feel that any one who wants to make a difference to their health and sense of well being should at least trial it. Sure no one product can be all thing to all people. From our experience we believe this products will make a difference to a broad range of people it is very portable and you can trial it for free. What have you got to loose?

Our personal proclaimer: "Yes we have tried the product/s and or services we are discussing in this article and YES we can attest to it's efficacy - or not - first hand. We are happy to answer any questions you might have about our use of the product."
Antonietta is a mother of three kids under ten, a homeopath and free lance writer currently traveling the world with her partner and family. For more information see http://www.bythebay.com.au/blog or more information on the Bery Tree opportunity visit http://myberrytree.com/39155/bgboost

Chemistry of the Elements of Nitrogen Family at a Glance

2009-10-28T03:30:00.000-07:00

Nitrogen, which makes up about 78% of our atmosphere, is a colorless, odorless, tasteless and chemically unreactive gas at room temperature. It is named from the Greek nitron + genes for soda forming. Discovered in 1772 by Daniel Rutherford (and independently by others such as Priestly and Cavendish), it is more abundant in the known universe than carbon or silicon. Most commercially produced nitrogen gas is recovered from liquefied air. Of that amount, the majority is used to manufacture ammonia (NH3) via the Haber process. Much is also converted to nitric acid (HNO3). Small amounts of nitrogen (for laboratory study) can be prepared by heating solid ammonium chloride (NH4Cl) with solid ammonium nitrite (NH4NO2). Sodium chloride and water are by-products. Nitrogen forms a surprising number of compounds with oxygen, exhibiting a wide range of oxidation states. Some of the more familiar ones include nitrogen dioxide (NO2), a component of photochemical smogs and a contributor to acid rain in some areas, and dinitrogen monoxide (N2O) commonly called "laughing gas".

Named from the Greek word phosphorus ("bringer of light"), phosphorus was first isolated in 1669 by Hennig Brand (a painting commemorating this achievement is in the rotating gallery that appears on the home page of this site). The original extraction was made from about 60 pails of urine..... Industrial processes for isolating phosphorus today involve heating calcium phosphate, carbon and silicon dioxide. Phosphorus occurs in at least 10 allotropic forms, the most common (and reactive) of which is so-called white (or yellow) phosphorus which looks like a waxy solid or plastic. It is very reactive and will spontaneously inflame in air so it is stored under water. The other common form of phosphorus is red phosphorus which is much less reactive and is one of the components on the striking surface of a match book. Red phosphorus can be converted to white phosphorus by careful heating. Commercially, phosphorus compounds are used in the manufacture of phosphoric acid (H3PO4) (found in soft drinks and used in fertilizer compounding). Other compounds find applications in fireworks and, of course, phosphorescent compounds which glow in the dark.

Arsenic has been known for a very long time and the person who may have first isolated it is not known but credit generally is given to Albertus Magnus in about the year 1250. The element, which is classified as a metalloid, is named from the Latin arsenicum and Greek arsenikon which are both names for a pigment, yellow orpiment. Tiny amounts of arsenic are used today in the semiconductor industry to create LEDs. Some compounds are used in the manufacture of everything from wallpaper to ceramics. Of course, arsenic is most often thought of in terms of its toxicity and it is used as a weed killer and rat poison. Intentional arsenic poisoning is now pretty much the stuff of old murder mysteries. Originally arsenious oxide was administered in small doses over a period of time, precipitating death accompanied by symptoms reminiscent of pneumonia. Today the arsenic remaining in the body can be detected during autopsy so this is not (happily) a very effective way to dispatch people undetected. Commercially, arsenic is produced by heating the pigment orpiment (As2S3) in air and then reacting the oxide product with carbon.

Antimony and its compounds have been known for centuries. Scientific study of the element began during the early 17th century, much of the important work being done by Nicolas Lemery. The name of the element comes from the Greek anti + monos for "not alone", while the modern symbol is rooted in the Latin-derived name of the common ore, stibnite. Antimony is a hard, brittle metalloid which is alloyed with other metals to increase hardness. It is also used in some semi-conductor devices. The recovery of elemental antimony parallels that of arsenic: the sulfide ore (stibnite) is roasted in air and then heated with carbon.

Bismuth, the heaviest non-radioactive naturally occurring element, was isolated by Basil Valentine in 1450. It is a hard, brittle metal with an unusually low melting point (271oC). Alloys of bismuth with other low-melting metals such as tin and lead have even lower melting points and are used in electrical solders, fuse elements and automatic fire sprinkler heads. The metal can be found in nature, often combined with copper or lead ores, but can also be extracted from bismuth (III) oxide by roasting with carbon. Compounds of bismuth are used in pigments for oil painting and one is in a popular pink preparation for the treatment of common stomach upset.

In studies announced jointly by the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna, Russia, and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in the U.S., four atoms of element 113 were produced in 2004 via decay of element 115 after the fusion of Ca-48 and Am-243.
Dr.Badruddin Khan teaches Chemistry in the University of Kashmir, Srinagar, India.

Alternative Medicine - Avenue for Medical Tourism

2009-10-27T15:34:00.000-07:00

The history of alternative medicine is a rather interesting one, and has its

Wonders and milestones of Science for civilization

2009-10-24T03:32:00.000-07:00

Right from ancient time science has revolutionized a wheel of progress made so far. Historical contribution of science for society was initiated by Alexander Grahm Bell whose mom and students whom he married were deaf, on March 10, 1876, at small laboratory at Boston, USA, established a communication from one room to another. It led to establish Bell Telephone Company in year 1877 for quicker communication. Gregor Mendel, central European monk who published his ideas on genetics in 1866 but largely went unrecognized until 1900, and a long after his death, was recognized as father of genetics. Newton gave laws for gravitational force, Jams Watt discovered locomotive engine, Hargovind Singh khurana synthesized artificial gene and Madam Curie discovered a radioactive materials named Pitchblende in 1911. Antoine Lavoisier, a French Chemist in 1700s, put forward a quantitative basis for chemistry by measuring weights of materials used in chemical reactions. For this work, Lavoisier is known as a "father of modern chemistry. His prefixes are most important in modern day technology where decimal and exponential equivalents in a metric system are very useful and listed as pico for 10-12, nano for 10-9, micro for 10-6, milli for 10-3, centi for 10-2 for deci for 10-1, no prefix for 00, deka for 101, hepta for 102, kilo for 103,mega for 106 and giga for 109.

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Many more could be derived by conversion from one unit of length to another in a metric system by shifting a decimal point. For example 12 inches make feet and 5280 feet make a mile. There are many glaring discoveries which are indispensable from the society for example in 19th century matter and energy have been complementary to each other and has fascinated Einstein for principle of relativity. It led him to make nuclear bombs, bombarded on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the business cities of Japan, in 1945. In a history of human civilization, it was as a 2nd sun as it generated radiations equivalent to those of sun with vas change in environmental thermodynamics. The thermos means temperature and dynamics means motion, and coined the word thermodynamics. Origin of life has been because of alignment and association of nitrogen (N2), oxygen (O2), hydrogen (H2) gases and sulfur (S) together to form amino acids, proteins to compose life system. It was put forward by Stanley who at Chicago University, USA, in 1950s did successful experiment to prove that methane (CH4) and ammonia (NH3) gases with other gases form amino acids and proteins. The alignment and association of gases conserve energy in a form of molecules, which sustain life. Newton’s observation about falling of an apple from apple tree further emphasized key position of energy. Evolution of civilization followed by various experimental realizations about energy for construction of world famous pyramid at Cairo, Egypt. Thousands years old, the workers loaded heavy and bigger sized stones on wooden planks and did swim in river Nile for transportation to pyramid site. The energy has brought revolutionary changes in civilization like Chinese and Indian inks were prepared by burning the wood to convert it into the wooden coals which were converted into fine powder and mixed with mustard oils. Similarly Harrappa and Mohan Jodaro, century old big buildings were constructed following lock and key concept based on a socket and cone joints of bones of elbow and knees of human body. At countryside, for centuries, grandmother used to burn mustard oil with cotton wick through a capillary and collect soot on neat and clean metallic surfaces like on brass or ion, and applied in eyes for adsorbing a secretion. During stone and metallic ages of civilization, the stones were shaped up to different designs and used for hunting.

These forms conserve and liberate energies transforming from one form to another as burning of oil to soot. Egyptians understood thermodynamics in a better way as they knew pushing heavy wooden planks on water surface reduces frictional forces and minimum human energy was needed for transportations. During Stone Age, the stones were shaped up to different sizes to manifolds the impulse for hunting. The water potential was noticed centuries ago and dams were constructed at Mississippi and Niles to make water falls for rotating turbine to generate electricity and irrigational works.

Paddling of cycle, letter typing machines, bull carts, churners (for churning curd to whey), horse carts, swing machines, ships were operated manually and best form of human energy conversion. The machine were run with human energy in fact if we go deeper, the human energy harnessed from food is partly stored in muscles and was used for operating the machines. Similarly levers were made which were very effective to economize the human energy for example the rollers were not pushed from back but were pulled forwards from front to minimize the human energy consumption. These scientific developments were revolved around a energy conversion from one form to another and termed as thermodynamic by Joule Thompson, Carnot and Cannon Rumford in 18th countries. Now the thermodynamics is an indispensable part of the human sciences and civilizations. In ancient times the major cities were established at the banks of rivers, due to easier transportation and as sources of water for drinking, irrigation, cottage industries. River Nile in African countries is considered highly revered and is boon to Egypt, Sudan, Ghana, Ethiopia, Somalia and Nigeria etc. In India, rivers Ganga, Yamuna, Sarswati etc. were taken in very high esteem and cities like Delhi at bank Yamuna, Allahabad at Trivani or Pragraj, kolkata at river Hugly, Mumbai and Madras are at coastal areas. The energy is understood as thermodynamics. During British India various dams for energy harnessing were constructed like Tungbhadra dam at Krishna-Cavery, Rihand, Hirakund, Nagarjun Sagar at Krishna River, Cauvery, Periyar, Ramagundam, Bhakra Nangal, and Salal project at Chenab River. Theses were eco-friendly techniques with no pollution hazards. The replacement of cycle, bull cart and horse carts by engine run motors are emitting tone and tones of CO, CO2, NO, NO2, NO3, SO2, SO3, polluting gases causing global warming.

Thermodynamics a boon:

Liberation of calories from food is well known and establish q = DE + PDV, a first law of thermodynamics. The q is heat, DE liberated energy, P pressure and DV volume change when food is digested in body. Putting no volume and pressure change the q = DE exists which decides an intake of food. Concept of eating jugglery after lunch and dinner for intake of iron and other useful vitamins is centaury old in Indian society. By practice our ancestors carried forward this tradition generation to generation, the families who used to stick to a concept of “as you eat so you reap” leads to have sound mind in sound body. The traditions of wearing types of clothes are monitored by the thermodynamics and illuminate the human side of science. Newton’s observation of falling of apple from tree to earth was based on potential energy due to height. A matter energy-relation fascinated Einstein to make nuclear bomb. Weather forecasting is a big thermodynamics, where moistures and pressure gradient are basic parameters. In villages, people still guess in advance about a rainfall by watching the movement of ants and curtains birds. The ants very accurately sense a change in humidity and start taking out their eggs from their underground nests. Similarly the tailor birds start making nests at heighted trees. The villagers guess that increases in humidity forecasts a rainfall in coming days.

During heating, the milk boils out of a heating vessel while water does not this is due to a layer formation of a fat of the milk on upper surface on heating because of low density. The layer thickens acts as cover to push back the milk vapors and kinetic energy of the milk molecules get accumulated and a state comes when the layer can not bear with the internal energy DE. It suddenly bursts out with large amount of the milk but water heating simply breaks its hydrogen bonds.

Who lays down its Foundation:

James Watt, a naughty boy, in 1750 noticed experimental relevance of thermodynamics with uplifting of a lid of kettle being used for boiling water for cooking the vegetable. Watt coined the word horsepower as horses powered water pumps in mines and laid down a foundation of railway engines. In 1799, Humphry Davy melted ice by rubbing two ice cubs together. Latter in 1824, Sadi Carnot and Cannon Ford, observed generation of heat when iron screw was used to make hole in wooden logs. It was supported by count Rumford for boring cannon experiment in 18th and early 19th century. The handle of a screw was rotated manually putting mechanical energy to work. Partly it evolved heat during process, later on the ideas of Watt, Carnot and Ford laid down a foundation of first law of thermodynamics as q = DE+PDV. The q is heat contents, the DE internal energy1 and the PDV a mechanical work done by or on the system. It successfully converts mechanical energy into the electrical. Benjamin Thompson in 1790’s, for measuring the power of light coined the word candlepower for candlelight as standard. Similarly James Joule in 1840’s gave the Joule as standard unit for energy measurement2, which is still in use. There are several other discoveries where our ancestors developed like fire which burnt by rubbing dried wooden logs that generates fire by friction3.

Description:

Real meaning of thermodynamics is to achieve the best equilibrium among the pressure, temperatures, mass and energy. However its real meaning could be understood by several states of the water, these are most useful example in society. At low temperature the liquid water is solid and referred to as ice while at optimum temperature is liquid state and at higher temperature i.e. 1000C the gaseous form (vapor). The vapor is powerful to generate electricity by turbine at thermal power stations. The windmills for centuries have been the most traditional power in villages for pumping out the water from the deep grounds. The air pressure for centuries is being used as a big potential by farmers to separate out the food grains from the straw of the wheat crops. In 18th centuries the watermills were emerged as a powerful source of energy from turbine attached directly to a axle fitted with grinding stones to grind wheat, maize, gram and other food grains into flour. At higher altitude the pressure is low hence cooking of vegetables takes longer time and more fuel. Training area of Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM) Utterkashi is at very high altitudes, I personally observed that the cooking of rice or any food item takes longer time. In 1996, I have attended one month mountaineering course and studied this phenomenon. In general, the ladies used to wet solid grains of grams, soyabeans, peas etc, and spices in fresh and clean water before 4 to 5 hrs of cooking. This process was well known by our forefathers/ancestors. They were aware about a significance of thermodynamics. Hence used to wet the food grains in water prior cooking. It is time saving device and enriching the food in nutrients. It saves lot of fuels, and depicts that the wet food grains take comparatively less time in cooking and saves the fuel. The calorie of the 1g mol of the butane is -687.982 K calorie mol-1, and of methane –191.800 K calorie mpl-1 thus the total time 123-65 = 58 min are saved. This saves a lot of gas and the time in kitchen.

Thermodynamics for natural events:

The wetting concept of dried grains must be popularized in the society in interest of health and economic reasons. The rain is a best example of thermodynamics, the water vapors from south India to North from the oceans of Hind and Arabian oceans, and from bay of Bengal gets transported to North to fill the deficiency of the water moistures at the North India. This process is spontaneous or the natural one and is closely associated with the thermodynamics. The gallons and gallons of the water are being transported to North India through open sky. Evaporation of water moisture from the leaves of trees, herbs and shrubs do add some moisture to the amount of the already water vapor. This process of the thermodynamics highlights contributions of the trees. The society must encourage tree plantation to maintain the equilibrium and ecosystems. The learners can understand the meaning and worth of non-equilibrium system. The pressure gradient causes the energy gradient, and is calculated with DG = -2.303RT log K. The DG is free energy, K is equilibrium constant, the K= p2/p1, the p1 water vapor pressure at southern India and the p2 at the northern. At northern the vapor pressure is lower than that of the southern. The pressure moves from south to north India and could be equated with kinetics of reactions where the reactants are decomposed with time and rate of reaction is determined. A state is reached where the systems are equilibrated with respect to the concentration of the reactants. The rate constant K is as p1 at southern Û p2 at northern, and K = P2/P1. The DG is free energy, and a working capacity of environment due to pressure or moisture gradients. This clarifies the concept of Gibbs free energy, for example if the P1 = 1.5 bar and P2 = 1.0 bar, the log K = 0.17609 and the amount of DG = -1005.22 Joule mol-1kelvin-1. This is the energy, which is being used to push up the water vapor to northern India. The 1005.22 Joule mol-1kelvin-1 is being used till the P1 = P2, at this condition the K=1 and the log K=0, and the DG=0. This predicts that the movements of the water vapors are stabilized and condensation is started in a form of clouds with transition of phase. And after some time it falls in the form of rains. For farmers the thermodynamics has special significance. For example when high-pressure difference is there the storms occur that distribute the seeds of the herbal plants and other useful trees.

There are 4 seasons and the seed germination is temperature sensitive, the wheat, maize, guar gum, pulses, oil seeds etc. are sown at an optimum temperature with some moisture contents. The intelligent farmers generally wet the seed of crops overnight before sowing. It enhances the moisture contents in the seed for quicker and healthy germination. This makes a better understanding of the thermodynamic applications in farming. The plants show much growth in rainy seasons due to water in plenty. The artificial thermodynamic conditions are being generated for growing of the seeds and flowering so that fresh fruits can be had at any seasons. For example at Tamil Naidu the mango plants give fruits in all seasons, as it is coastal area where almost same temperature prevails. Human thermodynamics, the sweating in very useful phenomenon and is closely related to the human body. Due to sweating several harmful toxins come out of the body. The living in air condition (AC) is harmful to the body because the toxins get accumulated in the body and accumulation in excess causes sudden disease. Similarly other way round is also beneficial for example in winter seasons the people rub their hands to generate heat due to friction, and expose minimum surface of body to the environments to prevent dissipation of heat of the body.

Currently, the thermodynamics is being defaced or deformed at domestic levels for example most of the ladies cook the food and for the time being store in freezes to prevent it from spoiling. It is OK that it protects the food for time being but heating eatable again and again is not good and destroys the calorie value. In general, overheating decompose and denature the food items. Some of the valuable vitamins and other chemicals get lost in heating process as vitamin C and iodine get vaporized. Overheating of the milk loses the vitamin C, similarly at kitchen ladies use oil for cooking the food, they dip the processed or knitted flour in hot oil. The used oil after cooking the food is stored and reused for further cooking. The oil after heating several times gets saturated whose intake in body along food is harmful.

The farmers do irrigate the crops for water and softening the soil for a growth of the roots and a use of earthen pots for cooling the water in summer is century old. In village is highly beneficial, this is natural cooler and do not cause any disease. There is a shortage of the electricity to run the electric coolers.

The thermodynamics is playing a glaring role in vehicular traffic, air and waterways. Too much friction between the road and outer surface of the wheels at the roads do cause some heat and wastage of the energy at roads and more fuel is used to cop up this effect. Air-cooling is most useful for dissipating the heat from oil engines during work. There are some demerits of the thermodynamics as global warming, air pollution. But the wonderful aspect of the thermodynamics is to generate electricity due the to temperature difference in water with depth of the oceans. This is called as OTEC i.e. Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion as at 4 to 8 feet deep water the temperature is lower (about 10 to 150C) while at upper surface is very high (about 350C). This difference develops the temperature gradients, thus a machine made up of metallic pipes of about 1 to 2 feet inner diameter is made in a square shape. Inside pipes, at their each corner a turbine is fitted and a volatile gas like ammonia or propane is filled inside the pipes, which due to temperature gradient runs from a high temperature to a lower. The gas on the way strikes the turbines where the latter are rotated and mechanical energy is converted into the electrical energy with suitable electric circuits. The thermodynamics is applicable to human anger as human anger is an adiabatic process. If the heat of the human is quickly dissipated, the anger of the person is cooled down and the person becomes normal. Currently Survismeter and econoburette are invented from Indian soil for saving energy and resources.
Conclusion: The best use of thermodynamic processes draws manifold benefits to our society and maintains the healthy ecosystem. This article contains a very primitive and useful science that has been enriching our civilization. The energy is still in great demand and a key for all round developments. There is an urgent need to pay attention on the trivial methods and concepts and perceptions dealing with energies, as the young minds can accelerate and develop some new dimension of science that can boost up our quality of life. There are many areas and works where least scientific attentions are paid because careful execution of any thing would up ridge some new thoughts.

References:

1.Man Singh and Sanjay Kumar, J. Appl. Sci., 93, 47-55, 2004.
2.Man Singh, J. Ind. Chem. Soc. 78, August 2001, 397-402.
3.Man Singh, J. Ind. Chem. Soc. 80, July 2003, 704-706.
Dr.Man Singh, associate prof. physical chemistry, is working on molecular features of dendrimers and supramolecues, their surface area, wetting coefficents, interaction dynamics.

The Nitrogen Cycle - It's Important you Know

2009-10-23T21:53:00.000-07:00

We've all seen salt water aquariums in books and on the internet as well as in our homes. They come in all sorts of sizes and shapes, some being enormous, then all the way down in size to a nano aquarium. Whatever size they are and whether they are fish only or reef, they rely on nature's life support system, the nitrogen cycle.

Any aquarist needs to basically understand the nitrogen cycle. There is no requirement to become a scientist, just know what is going on. Then the dangers of stressing the aquarium will be better realized (as an example overfeeding, perhaps the main problem with fledgling aquarists?).

All the aquarist needs to do is provide the correct environment for the nitrogen cycle to function. This can be done in several ways that will not be gone into here….except to point out that the nitrogen cycle can reach its full function with some filtration methods and only partially reach it with others. As an example, full function can be reached with 'live' rock and partial function can be reached with a canister filter.

So, how does it work? The following is very simplified.

As part of normal aquarium life, livestock put waste into the seawater. In addition there is breakdown of other items such as algae which has died and similar. On top of that the livestock need food which is provided in the main by the aquarist. All of these will produce ammonia which is toxic. Left unchecked, ammonia will kill our livestock.

Provided a proper environment has been provided, nature comes to the rescue. A colony of bacteria (Nitrosomas) develop and they transform the ammonia into nitrite. The toxic ammonia has been dealt with but it has been converted to another toxin which is nearly as detrimental to livestock. Again, another colony of bacteria (Nitrobacter) transform the nitrite into nitrate. Now we are getting somewhere, nitrate is nowhere near as toxic as nitrite. Depending what they are, generally livestock can stand fairly high but varying concentrations of nitrate.

It is at this point that the nitrogen cycle has gone as far as it can in the example given above, the canister filter. All the bacteria have required is a suitable environment with a good supply of oxygen. The bacteria mentioned above operate in an oxygen rich environment.

If an aquarist with our example, a canister filter, wants to continue and deal with the nitrate, then another filter needs to be set up for this.

The aquarist who has used the other example, 'live' rock, need just let nature continue.

It is in fact best to keep nitrate at low levels, particularly with corals but not exclusively so. The natural nitrate reduction process is known as denitrification. Bacteria once again form a colony, but the environment they need is one very low in oxygen. This is called an anaerobic environment. As oxygen is mainly absent, the bacteria utilise the nitrate. In the process the nitrate is transformed into nitrogen gas. The nitrogen gas is released from the aquarium at the water surface.

There are other ways to remove nitrates (for example algae) but if the full natural cycle can be achieved then this is the best.

As can be seen, our example the canister filter is unable to deal with nitrate as the environment is totally oxygen rich. To deal with nitrate, a further special nitrate filter will need to be employed. Or, if nitrates are not too high, water changes may be sufficient.

'Live' rock (in sufficient quantity, good condition, and with acceptable water circulation) can deal with ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. The bacteria live on and within the rock.

There are filtration methods other than the two examples given. ('Live' rock is however considered to be the best, and can be supplemented by a DSB (deep sand bed)). Whatever the filtration method employed, it must be pointed out that there are limits that any filter can deal with. So don't overfeed. Don't overstock (resist the "one more fish" temptation unless you are sure your stocking level will take it). Also be willing to carry out water quality tests. If the aquarium is new, allow time for the bacteria colonies to build, or for the 'live' rock to settle and 'adjust'.

Next time you sit and view your seawater aquarium, think of the bacteria, nature's engines, working for you.
Peter Cunningham and John Cunningham combined have been keeping salt water aquarium's for nearly 35 years. Visit their site 'Aquarists Online' if you are interested in the saltwater aquarium hobby.

Medical Interview

2009-10-23T01:16:00.000-07:00

Medical interview, medical interview courses, medical interviews, medical interview questions, consultant interview courses, medical interview skills, st interview courses, st medical interviews, medical interview course, st1 medical interview

Medical interview is a part of the procedure that a doctor or a medical practitioner requires to succeed in order to secure a lucrative hospital job. For a suitable Specialist Training or GT position various ST medical interviews are conducted by reputed medical colleges and hospitals. Hence suitable and effective guidance and tips are required to face these medical interviews for achieving success.

For this, participants can take the help of online medical interview skills that will not only motivate them but at the same time help them to answer various medical interview questions more correctly. Doctors vying for important medical posts should also consult medical consultants who can guide the aspirants. They can also take suitable help from various online medical interview courses or consultant interview courses. Interviews of various nature are conducted, some of which are listed below.
· F1 and F2, Foundation Interviews
· ST, CT and FTSTA Interviews
· GP VTS and GPR Interviews
· Consultant and Senior Medical Appointments Job Interviews.

However there are some preconceived notions regarding various ST(Specialist Training) or other medical interviews. A survey has revealed that most of the candidates (about 80-90%) who have failed to qualify in these interviews lack adequate practice and preparation. Most of the candidates are of the opinion that their resumes are really good and fit the selection criteria of various medical interviews. This has often leaded to failure. Candidates appearing for a ST1 medical interview should consult ST interview courses for better preparation. Experts from the interview panel often ask questions regarding the information that are provided in the CV of the candidate. Here are some of the steps that can help a candidate to prepare for a medical interview.
· While applying for a particular clinic, trust or hospital make sure you gather sufficient information on its functioning and reputation
· Also carry out investigations on its performance and the various issues that it is facing. This helps to create a sense of confidence while facing medical interviews
· Critically judge and review your CV from time to time to see whether it has the latest updated information on your skills and achievements
· Analyze your skills but at the same time be aware your strengths and weaknesses
· If you want top appear for ST/ST1 medical interviews do not forget to create a list of all the probable questions along with the relevant answers and suitable examples.
· Prepare yourself mentally for a structured Panel Interview which is very common to the Health Sector
· Take the help of a colleague or a friend and carry out a mock medical interview based on probable medical interview questions
· Also practice Group Discussions on a certain medical topic to boost your confidence

Various factors are taken into account while selecting a candidate for a suitable medical post such as
Eligibility, Clinical Skills, Research and Audit, Personal Skills, Probity and Commitment to Specialty. While appearing for medical interviews these factors should be kept in mind while answering questions pertaining to them.
Dan is a tutor for Medical Interview UK, and has years of experience in training doctors for their interviews.

To find out more about just visit Medical interview go to www.medicalinterviewsuk.co.uk

Analysis of Bio Mass Energy System Using Direct Combustion

2009-10-22T05:24:00.000-07:00

The energy produced by direct combustion process is heat and steam. Despite its apparent simplicity, direct combustion is a complex process from a technological point of view. High reaction rates and high heat release and many reactants and reaction schemes are involved. In order to analyze the combustion process a division is made between the place where the biomass fuel is burned (the furnace) and the place where the heat from the flue gas is exchanged for a process medium or energy carrier (the heat exchanger). The basic process flow diagram for direct combustion is shown in the following picture Figure 2 Principal scheme of direct combustion system Proper designed industrial biomass combustion facilities can burn all type of above listed biomass fuel. In combustion process, volatile hydrocarbons (CxHy) are formed and burned in a hot combustion zone. Combustion technologies convert biomass fuels into several forms of useful energy for commercial and/or industrial uses. In a furnace, the biomass fuel converted via combustion process into heat energy. The heat energy is released in form of hot gases to heat exchanger that switches thermal energy from the hot gases to the process medium (steam, hot water or hot air). The efficiency of the furnace is defined as follows: Depending on the wet Low Heating Value (LHV) of received biomass fuel, typical combustion efficiencies varies in the range of 65% in poorly designed furnaces up to 99% in high sophisticated, well maintained and perfectly insulated combustion systems. In single statement, the combustion efficiency is mainly determined by the completeness of the combustion process (i.e. the extent to which the combustible biomass particles are burned) and the heat losses from the furnace. Direct combustion systems are of either fixed bed or fluidized-bed systems. Fixed-bed systems are basically distinguished by types of grates and the way the biomass fuel is supplied to or transported through the furnace. In stationary or travelling grate combustor, a manual or automatic feeder distributes the fuel onto a grate, where the fuel burns. Combustion air enters from below the grate. In the stationary grate design, ashes fall into a pit for collection. In contrast, a travelling grate system has a moving grate that drops the ash into a hopper. Fluidized-Bed Combustors (FBC) burn biomass fuel in a hot bed of granular, noncombustible material, such as sand, limestone, or other. Injection of air into the bed creates turbulence resembling a boiling liquid. The turbulence distributes and suspends the fuel. This design increases heat transfer and allows for operating temperatures below 970°C, reducing NOx emissions. Depending on the air velocity, a bubbling fluidized bed or circulating fluidized bed is created. The most important advantages (comparing to fixed bed systems) of fluidized-bed combustion system are: • Flexibility to changes in biomass fuel properties, sizes and shapes; • Acceptance of biomass fuel moisture content up to 60%; • Can handle high-ash fuels and agricultural biomass residue (>50%); • Compact construction with high heat exchange and reaction rates; • Low NOx emissions; • Low excess air factor, below 1.2 to 1.4, resulting in low heat losses from flue gas. Additional factor that determines the system efficiency is the efficiency of the heat exchanger, which is defined as follows: Typical heat exchanger efficiencies based on biomass LHV range between 60% and 95%, mainly depending on design and kind of operation and maintenance. The main losses are in the hot flue gas exiting from the stack. In the industrial practice, the furnace and heat exchanger form together biomass-fired boiler unit. The boiler is a more adaptable direct combustion technology because the boiler transfers the heat of combustion directly into the process medium. Overall boiler efficiency is defined as follows: ?BOILER = ?COMBUSTION x ?HEAT EXCHANGER Overall boiler efficiency varies between 50% and 95%. Very common and most efficient are biomass systems with direct combustion for electrical power generation and co-generation. Such system can achieve an overall efficiency between 30% (power generation systems) and 85% (co-generation systems). Two cycles are possible for combining electric power generation with process steam production. Steam can be used in process first and then re-routed through a steam turbine to generate electric power. This arrangement is called a bottoming cycle. In the alternate cycle, steam from the boiler passes first through a steam turbine to produce electric power. More efficient co-generation system based on above shown steam cycle is very easy to design. Instead of condensing steam turbine a backpressure steam turbine can be applied, delivering steam at required process conditions. Another possibility is a combination of condensing steam turbine with controlled steam extraction facilities. This alternative offers maximum flexibility, i.e. during low process steam demand period maximum electric power can be generated. Up to the present time, many biomass fired co-generation power plants have been built worldwide, replacing low efficient heat-only boilers. Biomass gasification is other thermo chemical conversion process utilizing the following major feedstock: • Wood • Agricultural waste • Municipal solid waste Chemical process of gasification means the thermal decomposition of hydrocarbons from biomass in a reducing (oxygen-deficient) atmosphere. The process usually takes place at about 850ºC. Because the injected air prevents the ash from melting, steam injection is not always required. A biomass gasifier can operate under atmospheric pressure or elevated pressure. If the fuel gas is generated for combustion in the gas turbine the pressure of gasification is always super-atmospheric. The resulting gas product, the syngas, contains combustible gases – hydrogen (H2) and carbon monoxide (CO) as the main constituents. By-products are liquids and tars, charcoal and mineral matter (ash or slag). Reducing atmosphere of the gasification stage means that only 20% to 40% of stochiometric amount of oxygen (O2) related to a complete combustion enters the reaction. This is enough to cover the heat energy necessary for a complete gasification. Say in other words, the system is autothermic. It creates sensible heat necessary to complete gasification from its own internal resources. Prevailing chemical reactions are listed in Table 2, where the following main three gasification stages are described. Stage I Gasification process starts as autothermal heating of the reaction mixture. The necessary heat for this process is covered by the initial oxidation exothermic reactions by combustion of a part of the fuel . Stage II In the second – pyrolysis stage, combustion gases are pyrolyzed by being passed through a bed of fuel at high temperature. Heavier biomass molecules distillate into medium weight organic molecules and CO2, through reactions In this stage, tar and char are also produced. Stage III Initial products of combustion, carbon dioxide (CO2) and (H2O) are reconverted by reduction reaction to carbon monoxide (CO), hydrogen (H2) and methane (CH4). These are the main combustible components of syngas. These reactions, not necessarily related to reduction, occurre at high temperature. Gasification reactions , most important for the final quality (heating value) of syngas, take place in the reduction zone of the gasifier. Heat consumption prevails in this stage and the gas temperature will therefore decrease. Tar is mainly gasified, while char, depending upon the technology used, can be significantly "burned" through reactions and reducing the concentration of particulates in the product.

Steps of the Pond Nitrogen Cycle

2009-10-21T19:44:00.000-07:00

Did you know that manmade ponds rely on the same ecosystem principles that natural ponds do? Yes, for any manmade pond to thrive it must mirror the ecosystem of the natural world. One aspect of this is a pond nitrogen cycle. Understanding how this cycle works is invaluable for maintaining a pond’s overall life.

To an untrained or inexperienced eye, a natural pond seems like little more than a natural “tub of water”. That is, water – mostly from rain or runoff - collects into a small body of water. This then “magically” turns into an acceptable ecosystem for plant and animal life to live in.To an average person, the need to know how a pond regulates itself is relatively useless information. However, when someone wishes to duplicate a manmade pond on their property, the passive witnessing of nature may not be enough. Instead, it becomes important to understand the cyclical process that maintains the pond’s aforementioned ecosystem. This includes understanding the pond’s nitrogen cycle.

And what is a pond’s nitrogen cycle? A ponds nitrogen cycle is a series of steps that take place in a pond that helps to keep the pond clean and cycle out organic waste. Here is a simple break down of it.

In a fish pond, fish will release waste into the water. As the waste breaks down, ammonia is produced. Ammonia can be toxic if it builds up. To keep ammonia levels from getting to dangerous levels, beneficial bacteria called Nitrosomonas will break down ammonia and convert it into Nitrite, which is still toxic if it builds up, but less so than Ammonia. After the Ammonia is converted to Nitrite, another group of beneficial bacteria called Nitrobacter will in break down and convert Nitrites into Nitrates, which are far less toxic than Nitrites. This Nitrate is then utilized by the plant life in the pond as a source of nourishment, which helps to keep the Nitrate level low and can also help with controlling algae. So, the nitrogen cycle is essentially the amazing way a pond’s ecosystem cleans itself of harmful toxins and creates sustaining nourishment within its environment.

This natural process was developed over many years of evolution and is the way it should work in a naturally balanced pond. However, manmade ponds sometimes require assistance from pond products to tip the ecosystem odds in favor of pond life survival. Pond filters can help filter out extra waste and also provide a safe breeding ground for beneficial bacteria to grow and thrive. There are also bacteria inoculants on the market that can be added regularly to ensure that proper levels of beneficial bacteria are present to help break down waste and to help convert ammonia and nitrites. Additionally, pond plants can be purchased and added to a pond to help with the utilization of un-necessary nitrates to prevent its availability to nuisance plants like algae. All of these products can assist a small fish pond environment with establishing a proper and efficient nitrogen cycle.

Over time, the need to take special steps to maintain a pond’s nitrogen cycle will decrease. This is because the pond will become self-sufficient and able to produce and feed adequate amounts of bacteria that fish waste ammonia is no longer a threat. As the saying goes, nature eventually takes care of itself.
Casey Coke is a Marketing Manager for Natural Environmental Systems, LLC, a global supplier of microbial solutions for pond and lake management. The company markets their own brand of pond supplies under the registered brand name of Pond Keeper.

When To Take Your Medication

2009-10-21T03:11:00.000-07:00

Timing your medication appropriately can be crucial to the success of any treatment regime whether it be to cure a life-threatening condition or simply to alleviate troublesome symptoms.

When best to take a medication depends on the active ingredient, what product form the medication is in, the nature and severity of the condition to be diagnosed, prevented or treated, as well as individual diet and lifestyle. The detailing that your doctor or pharmacist provides often centers on maximizing the effectiveness and safety of the medication.

Getting as much of the active ingredient to be absorbed into the body can be an important goal of correctly timing your medication. Some medication is better absorbed when taken with meals or specific foods while the absorption of others is inhibited when taken in the same way. Extremely little of an osteoporosis medication like Fosamax (alendronate) already ever gets into the body, let alone reaches the bones, under fasting conditions from a single dose. This medication needs to be taken with plain water and without food or other drink, weekly on the same day in an upright position upon first rising. Already more than 99% of a single dose will be excreted out of the body under such conditions and if the medication is taken with food or at other times during the day, the amount absorbed can be further reduced by half or more.

Some medications may be safer to take with food rather than on an empty stomach. In better assuring the long-term safety of a painkiller class of medications known as NSAIDs, it may be advisable to avoid taking the medication aspirin for instance, on an empty stomach and to either take the medication with or after food or together with an antacid.

Active ingredients can require a specific dose and timing strategy to be most effective. This is especially so for different types of antibiotics in treating infections. An antibiotic medication like cloxacillin may require four times a day dosing to maintain effective blood levels in treating a skin infection while ciprofloxacin, an antibiotic of a another class that acts differently, may only require once or twice a day dosing to treat a urinary tract infection.

The product form can play an important role in when and how often a medication is taken. Long-acting, delayed or sustained release preparations can work to release the active ingredients of a medication product differently or consistently throughout a day allowing the medication to be therapeutic despite being dosed only once instead of multiple times in a day. In managing blood pressure for instance, chronotherapeutic medication has been developed to work in tandem with the body's natural circadian rhythms and in effect, to best tackle the peak blood pressure that tends to occur upon awakening. Innopran XL (propranolol) can be taken just once at night before sleeping. Technology allows the release of the medication's active ingredient four hours after taking it, with resulting peak blood levels that coincide with the morning spike in blood pressure.

The nature of a medical condition can also help to determine when it is best to take a particular medication. Cholesterol is synthesized by the body, often during sleep in the night hence the arising notion that it may be most advantageous to dose cholesterol-lowering medication like Zocor (simvastatin) or Mevacor (lovastatin) in the evenings. Conditions like migraine, fever and gout may have acute symptoms that occur unpredictably and can often require medicating regardless of the time of day.

Incorporating individual diet and lifestyle patterns often facilitates compliance with taking medication and can be crucial to effectively treating a chronic condition like diabetes without unduly reducing quality of life. To best control the condition, insulin injections may be administered as well as oral medication taken before, with or after food to coincide with specific anticipated spikes in blood sugar levels. In consultation with the treating doctor, oral medication may be timed with meals or scheduled for consumption either consistently in the morning or the night to facilitate lifestyle and compliance.

When specific medications are used to moderate elements of diet and nutrition, taking these consistently with meals can be important to treatment success. A weight-loss medication like Xenical (orlistat) is often best taken with meals or times of food intake that involve the most consumption of fats as these get bound by the medication and are passed out from the body. The cholesterol-reducing medications colestipol and cholestyramine also act in a similar way and are best taken with meals.

Timing medication for best outcomes can be especially important when having to take five or more medications consistently. In such cases known as polypharmacy, it becomes increasingly important not just to match medicating with specific time slots before, with or after food, but also to space out the different medications appropriately so as to avoid negative interactions that could lead to ineffective medicating or even direct harm to health.

In timing your medication, discuss the various considerations with both your treating doctor and pharmacist. This will optimize a safe and effective medication regime and better your treatment outcomes.
Sudesh Samuel is a pharmacist and medical communications specialist with a keen interest in medication management services that make treatments safer, more effective and less costly. He is president of the Institute for Medication Management - http://www.medicationreview.net

The Science Behind Hydrogen Hybrid Cars - The Electrolysis of Water

2009-10-19T19:05:00.000-07:00

The Science Behind Hydrogen Hybrid Cars - The Electrolysis of Water

The Electrolysis of water in Hydrogen Hybrid Cars happens when an electric current passes through the water causing the water (H2O) to break down into its two basic elements, oxygen (O2) and hydrogen gas (H2). It's interesting to note that Industrial applications don't use this method of hydrogen production much since they can do it more affordably by getting it out of fossil fuels.

The way this works in Hydrogen Hybrid Cars is by taking an electrical power source and connecting it to two electrodes, or plates, (or multiples of two) usually made out of some kind of stable metal like aluminum or stainless steel, then putting them into the water. If this cell is made correctly then Hydrogen will form on the cathode (metal plate that's negatively charged), and oxygen will form on the anode (metal plate that's positively charged). Since there's two hydrogen molecules to every one oxygen, molecule in water the amount of hydrogen produced is twice that of oxygen and both are in proportion to the electrical charge that runs through the water.

Using this process, Electrolysis, for pure water uses a lot more energy, which is called over-potential, to cross the activation barriers. Without a lot of extra energy, electrolysis of pure water happens very slowly, if at all. This is because water won't self-ionize, (breakdown), much if left alone.

Seawater is about a million times more conductive to electricity than pure water because of all the electrolytes in it like salt. Many electrolytic cells also may lack these needed electro-catalysts. Electrolysis in Hydrogen Hybrid Cars is far more efficient with the addition of some of these electrolytes such as salt or an acid or a base.

The history of electrolysis dates all the way back to 1789 when Jan Rudolph Deiman and Adriaan Paets van Troostwijk used an electrostatic machine to make electricity and discharged it into gold electrodes placed in a Leyden jar full of water. Then, in 1800, Alessandro Volta invented the voltaic pile, and soon after William Nicholson and Anthony Carlisle used that for the first electrolysis of water. Eventually, in 1869, Zénobe Gramme invented the Gramme machine that became a cheap way to produce hydrogen through the electrolysis of water.

Next, in The Science Behind Hydrogen Hybrid Cars - The Equations of Electrolysis, we'll look at the scientific details.

About the Author:

Sam Geo is a fellow hydrogen hybrid cars enthusiast sharing his new found research with the world. Check out http://www.hydrohybridcars.net/ now! If you've ever wondered about saving incredible amounts of money on gas, improving your car's performance and helping the environment all at the same time then you must see http://www.hydrohybridcars.net/ now!

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - The Science Behind Hydrogen Hybrid Cars - The Electrolysis of Water

Tips for feeding your lawn nitrogen

2009-10-19T01:20:00.001-07:00

Tips for feeding your lawn nitrogenAuthor: Robin Reckard

Nitrogen is vital to your lawn and is one of the most popular fertilizers. You need nitrogen because chlorophyll depends on it as do other proteins and amino acids. These in turn are what makes your lawn green and causes it to grow well.

Some things to look for to see if your grass has a nitrogen deficiency are; if it turns yellow despite watering, the grass doesn't grow quickly, diseases are present in your lawn, or if the grass turf starts getting thinner.

Depending on the time of year, your budget, and the climate there are three basic types of nitrogen used in fertilizers that are popular to apply.

1. You will find isobutyledenedinurea (IBDU) which decomposes slowly and will feed your grass over a longer period of time. It will often take a couple of weeks to decompose enough for you to see it's effects on your lawn.

This is the most expensive form of nitrogen fertilizer because of the way it is manufactures and it's uniformity. It's uniformity also makes it very easy to apply.

2. There is also sulfur-coated urea. It depends on how thick the sulfur coating is to determine how quickly it will dissolve and feed your plants.

S.C.U. will release quicker when the temperature is hotter, the lawn is wetter, or if the grass is healthier.

3. The last one I am going to mention is urea, a fairly inexpensive nitrogen. It is the cheapest nitrogen to produce as well as the fastest acting.

You can often see results over night, it is that fast. But it gets depleted quickly and if you over apply it you can easily burn your yard up and kill your grass.

So the next time you go shopping for fertilizers with nitrogen check the labels and ask lots of questions.

About the Author:

Robin Reckard, co-founder of Jorbins.com Lifestyle Magazine, keeps busy producing, writing, and editing for the magazine as well as raising and enjoying her six year old daughter

Visit Jorbins Gardening and Landscaping section to read more great articles about gardening and lawn care.

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - Tips for feeding your lawn nitrogen

The Dangers Of Expired Medications

2009-10-18T16:50:00.001-07:00

The Dangers Of Expired MedicationsAuthor: Sudesh Samuel

Expired medications are commonplace and inertia notwithstanding, many of us tend to rely on an intuitive sense of their value in continuing to store and use them. Such drugs can be harmful to health in several ways; they can be unpredictable in effectiveness, simply ineffective, or even toxic.

The formal way of classifying a medication as having expired is through it's labeled expiry date. This date is often set based on a combination of the common properties of the dosage form as well as the stability and expiration studies of the product that have been conducted by the manufacturer. Importantly, this expiry date is contingent on specific storage conditions of the product. Although a medication may pass it's labeled expiry date, it may not necessarily be any less effective or dangerous to consume depending on the product itself, the storage conditions and the circumstances leading up to expiry.

When most medications pass their expiry date under appropriate storage conditions, they are generally taken to have become so variable in effectiveness as to have become unsuitable for use. This often comes about as a result of the degradation of the active ingredients of the medication with exposure to physical, chemical or microbiological variables like temperature, pressure, humidity, light, bacteria as well as other components of the product known as excipients.

Creams may "crack" once their expiry date is passed, leading to a separation of the components and hence provide a non-uniform delivery of active ingredients. This can lead to the poor control of conditions like eczema or acne. Tablet medications can mechanically "powder" off, change in consistency with exposure to water vapor or even experience the contained drug itself becoming ineffective on prolonged exposure to air as occurs with glyceryl trinitrate, an emergency medicine that can easily become ineffective in relieving acute symptoms of chest pain. With common injections, should the acidity change to fall outside a fairly narrow range, significant pain and tissue damage can result from use. With most eye drops, an expiry date of one month after opening is accepted to minimize the potential for dangerous bacterial contamination.

With any medication, once a specific threshold of remaining active ingredient is passed, the medication can no longer be relied upon to deliver accurate doses. This loss of reliability is often exacerbated by the fact that the active ingredients can degrade into various combinations of active, inactive or toxic breakdown products. The common aspirin is for instance, known to react with moisture to breakdown into salicylic acid, which is active, and acetic acid, which is inactive and can lead to toxicity in excess.

While the expiry date provides a useful gauge of when to stop using a medication, there are also many other factors that can informally accelerate the expiry of a medication and make it dangerous to use, chief among which is how the medication is stored. It is oftentimes not just the medication that is affected by storage conditions but also the storage container. Under inappropriate storage conditions, certain containers can leech material into liquid medication preparations, or medication particles can stick to the container rather than remain separated. On average, a 10 degree rise in temperature doubles the rate of chemical reactions that occur to a medication product and can accelerate the rate of bacterial contamination several fold. Just like an ice cream can simply melt or a loaf of bread becomes mouldy much quicker if not refrigerated, many medication products can easily expire much faster when not stored appropriately.

With oral liquid and topical medications, potentially dangerous changes associated with expiry can at times be detected by color or consistency changes, component separations, altered smell or taste (oral preparations). Should a suspicion of expiry arise, a medication expert should be consulted regardless of whether or not the labeled expiry date has been passed.

"Expiry" should also be understood to occur once a supply of medications is no longer used appropriately for it's intended purpose. Consultation with a medication expert is always advised to prevent the inappropriate use of existing medication supplies. Inappropriate use can often occur with self-medication and is harmful. An unfinished supply of a previously used antibiotic may be tried to treat a new infection that is actually untreatable by or resistant to that antibiotic. This practice may not only delay recovery but can also encourage the proliferation of "super bugs" that have resistance to many antibiotics. Another incorrect purpose involves sharing medications and this can be especially harmful if another is allergic to the shared medication or a child or pet is medicated with an adult's medication. Children often require dose adjustments to accommodate their size while many human drugs are often unsuitable for pets. Even a simple food like chocolate that we may enjoy can easily be toxic to a pet dog.

Another mechanism whereby medication expiry is dangerous occurs when an unfinished supply is used despite new information that points to increased precautions associated with the medication or that has led to it's recall. An example is obtaining pain relief from a previous supply of a painkiller like Vioxx (rofecoxib) or Celebrex (celecoxib) in spite of an existing heart condition that is now known to relate to an increased risk of fatality under those circumstances of consumption.

Expired medications that are kept instead of discarded not only take up space but can actually discourage the appropriate use of new supplies in the treatment of illness. A medication cabinet, if not tended to regularly, could eventually contain more expired medications than viable ones and this can lead to the accidental consumption of an expired medication in place of a viable one. It is definitely advisable to clear the medication cabinet of expired medicaitons at least annually if not more often.

A further danger however, lies in how expired medications are disposed of. Expired medications and pharmaceutical byproducts can be harmful to the environment especially when they end up in our rivers and drinking water supply. Hormonal compounds like estrogen from birth control pills and patches as well as antibiotics have been linked to being flushed by individuals and institutions into sewage, draining largely unchanged and collecting in rivers and streams, then returning in tiny amounts into drinking water. Traces of antibiotics could worsen bacterial resistance while estrogens and other steroids are known to change the reproductive characteristics of fish. Even trace amounts of chemotherapy medications have emerged in tap water and this could be severely detrimental to the unborn babies of pregnant women who drink such water. The long-term impact on human health of medications in our rivers and drinking water is as yet unknown but no one would want to wait to find out. We can all play our part by inquiring on and using pharmacy or state-run programs for the disposal of expired medications instead of sending them down the sink or the toilet bowl.

A pharmacist is the expert of choice to approach in handling medication expiry and should be consulted if in doubt. As a general rule, it is always best to safeguard your own health and that of those around you by expeditiously and appropriately discarding all expired medications.

About the Author:

Sudesh Samuel is a pharmacist and medical communications specialist with a keen interest in medication management services that make treatments safer, more effective and less costly. He is president of the Institute for Medication Management - http://www.medicationreview.net

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - The Dangers Of Expired Medications

Commercial Applications of Electrolysis

2009-10-17T23:10:00.000-07:00

Commercial Applications of ElectrolysisAuthor: Dr.Badruddin Khan

The electrolysis of water illustrates the changes that take place when an electric current passes through a chemical compound. Water consists of water molecules, represented by the formula H2O. In any sample of water, some small fraction of molecules exists in the form of ions, or charged particles. Ions are formed in water when water molecules break apart to form positively charged hydrogen ions and negatively charged hydroxide ions. Chemists describe that process with the following chemical equation:

H2O ? H+ + OH?

In order for electrolysis to occur, ions must exist. Seawater can be electrolyzed, for example, because it contains many positively charged sodium ions (Na+) and negatively charged chloride ions (Cl?) inclusive of several other cations and anions. Any liquid, like seawater, that contains ions is called an electrolyte. Water is not usually considered an electrolyte because it contains so few hydrogen and hydroxide ions. Normally, only one water molecule out of two billion ionizes. In contrast, sodium chloride (table salt) breaks apart completely when dissolved in water. A salt water solution consists entirely of sodium ions and chloride ions. In order to electrolyze water, then, one prior step is necessary. Some substance, similar to sodium chloride, must be added to water to make it an electrolyte. The substance that is usually used is sulfuric acid.

The equipment used for electrolysis of a compound consists of three parts: a source of DC (direct) current; two electrodes; and an electrolyte. A common arrangement consists of a battery (the source of current) whose two poles are attached to two strips of platinum metal (the electrodes), which are immersed in water to which a few drops of sulfuric acid have been added (the electrolyte).

Electrolysis begins when electrical current (a flow of electrons) flows out of one pole of the battery into one electrode, the cathode. Positive hydrogen ions (H+) in the electrolyte pick up electrons from that electrode and become neutral hydrogen molecules (H2):

2 H+ + 2 e? ? H2

(Hydrogen molecules are written as H2 because they always occur as pairs of hydrogen atoms. The same is true for molecules of oxygen, O2.) As the electrolysis of water occurs, one can see tiny bubbles escaping from the electrolyte at the cathode. These are bubbles of hydrogen gas. Bubbles can also be seen escaping from the second electrode, the anode. The anode is connected to the second pole of the battery, the pole through which electrons enter the battery. At this electrode, electrons are being taken out of the electrolyte and fed back into the battery. The electrons come from negatively charged hydroxide ions (OH?), which have an excess of electrons. The anode reaction is slightly more complicated than the cathode reaction, as shown by this chemical equation:

4 OH? ? 4 e? ? O2 + 2 H2O

Essentially this equation says that electrons are taken away from hydroxide ions and oxygen gas is produced in the reaction. The oxygen gas bubbles off at the anode, while the extra water formed remains behind in the electrolyte. The overall reaction that takes place in the electrolysis of water is now obvious. Electrons from the battery are given to hydrogen ions in the electrolyte, changing them into hydrogen gas. Electrons are taken from hydroxide ions in the electrolyte and transferred to the battery. Over time, water molecules are broken down to form hydrogen and oxygen molecules:

2 H2O ? 2 H2 + O2

Electrolysis is used to break down compounds that are very stable. For example, aluminum is a very important metal in modern society. It is used in everything from pots and pans to space shuttles. But the main natural source of aluminum, aluminum oxide, is a very stable compound. A compound that is stable is difficult to break apart. We can't get aluminum out of aluminum oxide just by heating the compound as we need more energy than heat can provide. Aluminum is prepared by an electrolytic process first discovered in 1886 by a 21-year-old student at Oberlin College in Ohio, Charles Martin Hall (1863–1914). Hall found a way of melting aluminum oxide and then electrolyzing it. Once melted, aluminum oxide forms ions of aluminum and oxygen, which behave in much the same way as hydrogen and hydroxide ions in the previous example. Pure aluminum metal is obtained at the cathode, while oxygen gas bubbles off at the anode. Sodium, chlorine, and magnesium are three other elements obtained commercially by an electrolytic process similar to the Hall process.

Electrolysis can be used for purposes other than preparing elements. One example is the refining of copper. Very pure copper is often required in the manufacture of electrical equipment for which a purity of 99.999 percent is not unusual. The easiest way to produce a product of this purity is with electrolysis. An electrolytic cell for refining copper contains very pure copper at the cathode, impure copper at the anode, and copper sulfate as the electrolyte. When the anode and cathode are connected to a battery, electrons flow into the cathode, where they combine with copper ions (Cu2+) in the electrolyte as shown below:

Cu2+ + 2 e? ? Cu0

Pure copper metal (Cu0 in the above equation) is formed on the cathode and at the anode; copper atoms (Cu0) lose electrons and become copper ions (Cu2+) in the electrolyte:

Cu0 ? 2 e? ? Cu2+

Overall, the only change that occurs in the cell is that copper atoms from the impure anode become copper ions in the electrolyte. Those copper ions are then plated out on the cathode. Any impurities in the anode are just left behind, and nearly 100 percent pure copper builds up on the cathode.

Another important use of electrolytic cells is in the electroplating of silver, gold, chromium, and nickel. Electroplating produces a very thin coating of these expensive metals on the surfaces of cheaper metals, giving them the appearance and the chemical resistance of the expensive ones. In silver plating, the object to be plated (a spoon, for example) is used as the cathode. A bar of silver metal is used as the anode. And the electrolyte is a solution of silver cyanide (AgCN). When this arrangement is connected to a battery, electrons flow into the cathode where they combine with silver ions (Ag+) from the electrolyte to form silver atoms (Ag0):

Ag+ + 1 e? ? Ag0

These silver atoms plate out as a thin coating on the cathode, in this case, the spoon. At the anode, silver atoms give up electrons and become silver ions in the electrolyte:

Ag0 ? 1 e? ? Ag0

Silver is cycled, therefore, from the anode to the electrolyte to the cathode, where it is plated out.

About the Author:

Dr.Badruddin Khan, an Associate Professor in the University of Kashmir, Srinagar, India, loves to enrich the most valuable raw material of the society, the students, in all possible ways.

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - Commercial Applications of Electrolysis

Beans and Legumes Organic Nitrogen

2009-10-17T15:11:00.001-07:00

Beans and Legumes Organic Nitrogen

Author: chris j meagher
For nitrogen fixation, with very few exceptions, beans are best and indeed, all leguminous plants.

Beans, in particular, are compatible with most plants, although the

allium family is highly antagonistic. Try it. Plant beans next to

garlic - and watch them sulk.

In the legume family, that of broad-beans, or fava-beans, is probably

the best nitrogen supplier I have ever seen. There are certain periods

throughout the plants growth, where, not only can you SEE the nitrogen

nodules, but, they are actually able to be weighed.

When considering the use of nitrogenous plants as companions, in

vegetable growing, a decision must be made as to whether or not the

bean is there purely for the nitrogenous qualities, or, if a produce

return is expected also. I have always felt that any produce is a

bonus, but never actually expect any due to the general treatment the

legumes get.

Meaning, if I am using legumes as nursery, or shelter plants for

another crop, as the beans start to take off, they are pruned to

two-thirds of their size. The prunings become part of the existing

mulch.

Apart from keeping them manageable and preventing competition with the

main crop, this causes the plants to shed their nitrogen, at times

producing some remarkable results.

For mineral utilization AND nitrogen fixation, one just cannot go past

lucerne. This legume has extraordinarily deep roots and brings up a lot

of trace elements. I mainly use lucerne in the walkways, as a good way

to utilize what is basically fallow soil. I cut it from an early stage,

just as flowers form, and continue to do so from then on.

Being penultimate to flowering, then being denied the chance, forces

the plant to become biennial. This then affords an in-situ supply of

nitrogenous mulch for the beds.

Lucerne, being attractive to aphis, acts as a food source for ladybirds, also as a shelter belt for beneficial insects.

I have tried using clover as a living mulch, nitrogen fixer, but found

it to be far too invasive, to the point of rapaciousness as it

practically took over the garden.

About the Author:

Organic Gardening Magic
Compost - feed your plants as Nature really intended.
Organic Food Gardening Beginners Manual

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - Beans and Legumes Organic Nitrogen

How Does ?Medical Billing? Fit Into The ?Work At Home Scams??

2009-10-17T06:05:00.001-07:00

How Does ?Medical Billing? Fit Into The ?Work At Home Scams??

Author: Tammy Harlan

Yes, you can work from home in medical billing, just not typically as an "employee."

Nearly 600,000 Americans lost their jobs in January 2009, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, and 2-3 million more jobs are projected to be lost over the coming year. Sadly, because of this, "work from home opportunity scams" are on the rise. These scams prey on people's vulnerabilities and fears and with so many people out of work, wondering what they are going to do next to sustain themselves financially, there's a lot of vulnerability and there is a lot of fear out there.

Over the past couple of months, many television programs and news shows, such as 20/20 and Dr. Phil, have devoted air time to exposing scams and telling stories about individuals who have fallen victim to these scams. These television programs understand that this is a hot topic in high demand, more so now than ever before. Just like bacteria, germs and disease, given the right temperature (the state of our economy) and set of circumstances (vulnerability and fear), the scams are growing and multiplying.

There is a complexity to this issue though. Just as there is usually a bit of truth in every lie, the scams are allowed to flourish because, the truth is, small businesses/home-based businesses have been on the rise for quite some time and account for more than 50% of new job creation!

According to the United States Department of Labor:

"With more than one million new businesses each year, America's economy depends on small businesses for its vitality and growth. According to the 1997 report of the U.S. Census Bureau, the nation's 17 million small, non-farm businesses constituted 99.7 per cent of all employers, employed 52 percent of private workforce and accounted for 51 percent of the nation's sales. Small business-dominated industries provided 11.1 million new jobs between 1994 and 1998, virtually all of the new jobs created during that time period."

The scams operate based on this "truth" - which accounts for all the confusion as to what and who are scams and what and who are legitimate opportunities.

Medical Billing: Employment from Home Isn't the Opportunity

I have been in the medical billing industry for over 20 years. I am the President/CEO and founder of an online medical billing course program. Not a week goes by that I don't receive a call from someone asking "how they can find a job in medical billing which will allow them to work from home." The caller is surprised and sometimes defiant when I tell them that such an opportunity does not exist.

Is there opportunity in medical billing? YES. But not in the capacity that most people have been led to believe! Let's uncover the lies and the truths about the opportunity that actually does exist in medical billing.

Medical Billing Opportunity: Employment from Home - DECEPTION/LIE

So why is it that so many people believe that they can obtain employment in medical billing working from home? The answer is simple. Over the past decade or so, there have been scam companies placing advertisements in the "help-wanted" sections of small, home-town type newspapers. Here is an actual ad from a company called Medicor who was sued and shut down by the FTC:

"EARN $$$ HELPING DOCTORS process claims from home. $20 - $40/ hour potential. Computer & modem required. We train. (888) 736-XXXX Ext. 895."

Upon calling the number in this ad, the caller was told that they could make an excellent income from the comfort of their own home "processing insurance claims for doctors." All they needed to do was purchase the medical billing software (cost: $325 - $495). Upon purchase, the caller was sent a medical billing software program that didn't even work, but that didn't matter, because they would never have the opportunity to use it.

The Truth: Doctors do not hire medical billing staff and then allow them to work from home. When a doctor hires someone to fill their medical billing position, this person is expected to show up for work just like all the other employees.

You can read full Medicore story on the Consumer Affairs website at: http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news/medicor.html. For more information about companies that were shut down, you can visit the Medical Billing Scamwatch Forum by going to: http://medicalbillingscamwatch.yuku.com/.

Medical Billing Opportunity: Employment within a Doctor's Office or Billing Company - VALID/TRUTH

The medical field is booming. Demand for medical billers is high. As the baby boomers reach retirement, the medical field is growing and expanding to accommodate this generation. Medical billing is just one of the many jobs in the medical field that has great job potential and growth. But notice the word JOB. A job = employment. A job/employment in medical billing requires you to show up for work in return for an employee paycheck. It should not be confused with "medical billing business ownership" which does not consist of exchanging hours for a paycheck from your employer.

The opportunity to gain a position in medical billing working within a doctor's office or working for a medical billing company does exist. It is viable and it is valid. How much money can a medical billing employee expect to make? You can find this information in the article entitled "Medical Billing & the Economy" at www.medicalbillingbusinessresources.com/articles/medicalbilling_economy.htm.

Medical Billing Opportunity: Home/Small Based Business Ownership - VALID/TRUTH

I personally have 13 years experience in owning/operating a medical billing business which I started from home. I began my business in order to be able to stay at home with my children. I eventually grew my business to a point that I felt it necessary to move it to a commercial office space (when the children were older). I take it personally and oftentimes get very frustrated when this medical billing opportunity is misrepresented as an "employment from home" opportunity. It is not!

When you begin a business in medical billing - or in anything - you are not "employed" by anyone. You are "Self-Employed." You do not collect an employee paycheck from anyone. You collect money from clients that you provide services to.

Beginning a business in medical billing - or any other industry, for that matter - requires a realistic investment! In a medical billing business, you are providing professional services to professional individuals. In order to succeed, you must realize that a realistic, professional investment is not an "option"... it is a must. Your investment needs to be proportionate to your expected return.

Another type of call that I get quite often is "I want to start a medical billing business from home but I don't have any money." Guess what? You can want all day and all night long, but without the capital that is required in order to begin a medical billing business - it's not going to happen. Let's say you want to open up a Blimpie franchise. How do you think Blimpie is going to respond when you call them and say, "Hi Blimpie, I'd like to open a Blimpie franchise, but I don't have any money." They might respond, "Call us back when you do."

How much money can be made in a medical billing business? This varies. I get this question quite a bit and my standard response is, "I know a wife/mother who handles 2 doctor clients putting in about 3-5 hours per week in order to supplement her husband's primary income and stay at home with her kids who is bringing in approximately $1500 - $2000 per month. I also know a multi-million dollar per year medical billing company. And I know so many in between."

Summary

Medical billing "employment from home" is not a viable, existing opportunity. Gainful employment working in a medical billing position within a doctor's office or medical billing company is a real/valid opportunity. Beginning a home/small business in medical billing is also a real/valid opportunity, if and only if, you understand the investment of time, money and research that is involved.

About the Author:

Tammy Harlan has been in the Medical Billing arena for approximately 20 years. Tammy provides an online, home-study course in medical billing at www.medicalbillingcourse.com.

Tammy also provides resources, information and an all-inclusive, medical billing business package at www.medicalbillingbusinessresources.com.

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - How Does ?Medical Billing? Fit Into The ?Work At Home Scams??

Maintaining New Car's Engine Compartment

2009-10-16T04:28:00.001-07:00

Maintaining New Car's Engine CompartmentAuthor: Zeke Gervis

Your new car?s engine compartment is as important as the smooth appearance of your exterior. Make sure to regularly maintain the engine compartment to avoid costly repairs and replacements, and be assured of a longer engine life and an excellent performing car.

Modern cars have cooling system components that are being forced to do more than the older ones. This is because of the trend to downsize car parts in order to minimize space and weight. To maintain your cooling system?s peak of efficiency, the most appropriate thing to do is to alter the coolant once every two years. Remember that anti-freeze does not wear out. Also, by altering the coolant, you are ensured that the corrosion inhibitors are fresh and doing the job they are supposed to. By maintaining your car?s cooling system, you are assured of less scale and corrosion that builds up inside the radiator when coolant is left in too long. Of course, you can also definitely avoid the high cost of radiator repair or replacement.

The brake fluid is the most important engine component. It is not a petroleum-based product; as a matter of fact, it is made up of cashew shells. They absorb moisture from the air. As a result, it minimizes braking performance. A substance also builds up over a period of time. In effect, this blocks the valves inside ABS units. The end result is no less than costly repairs or replacement. This blocking substance also causes calipers and wheel cylinders to leak. Thus, it results in repairs or replacement. So better flush the brake fluid and have it refilled every two years or 60,000 miles. Power steering fluid also needs to be flushed and refilled once every two years or 60,000 miles.

Another fluid, the transmission fluid, requires regular replacement so that it is kept in a tip top shape. Lack of maintenance is the main cause of transmission failures. To prevent costly repair and replacement, make you work done regularly.

Air and fuel filters prevent dirt from your engine. But their function does not mean they do not require cleaning anymore. Junky air and fuel filters result to several driving problems such as hesitation and rough idle stem. To avoid problems like those, replace the filter every 15,000 miles. The carbon canister filter, which is a very vital component of the emission control system and filters the in coming air, should be replaced. The emission controls are integral parts of modern engine management system. Keep in mind that a blocked canister filter will also result to drivability problems.

A PVC filter is only common to some cars. It is also known as a breather element. The air for the PCV system is filtered by this engine part. The dirt from the engine crankcase is also kept out by this PVC filter. It needs to be replaced at 15,000 mile intervals.

While checking your PCV filter, also check the PCV valve and replace it regularly. When a new PCV filter is installed, a new PCV valve must also be installed.

Also include the oxygen sensor in maintenance. It measures the proportion of oxygen (O2) in the gas or liquid being analyzed. Usually made with zirconium ceramic bulb coated on both sides with a thin layer of platinum, this sensing element comes in both heated and unheated forms. Its main task is to measure the performance of internal combustion engines in automobiles and other modes of transportation. If you see any damage in your Dodge car?s Dodge oxygen sensor, consult the owner?s manual to prevent further vehicle damage.

The spark plugs together with the other ignition parts are engine components have become much more reliable since the age of high technology began. Most modern engines use a DIS or Direct Ignition System. This system mounts one ignition coil on each spark plug. This minimizes the need of a distributor. Also, the PCM controls the firing of each coil.

Nonetheless, distributors still exist in some engines. On engines that still use a distributor, replace the distributor cap, distributor rotor and ignition wires every 30,000 miles.

On a regular basis, replace the spark plugs. In the auto shops are platinum plugs, split fire plugs, multi-electrode plugs, red ones, green ones and blue ones. But you must only opt for the recommended one of your manufacturer. Usually, spark plug information is located on the engine decal under the hood.

The most crucial part of the engine is the timing belt. It is so crucial that it needs to be replaced before it breaks. If your vehicle has an engine whose valves and pistons are located in the same place in the combustion chamber at different times, it implies engine damage. If your car uses a non-interference engine, you might experience a car breakdown. So to avoid this, replace the timing belt every 60,000 miles.

Each engine part is essential for your engine, in particular, and your car, in general. Never take even one part for granted. This is to avoid untoward car breakdown. Moreover, the engine is the one that makes you car work. Your new car?s engine compartment is must at all times work properly because that is the heart of your vehicle. Well maintained engine parts will give you your desired car performance.

About the Author:

Zeke Gervis has a degree in Human Resource Management. He is an F1 fanatic and is a collector of racing memorabilias. At present, he enjoys working at a consulting firm in Iowa.

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - Maintaining New Car's Engine Compartment

Nitrogen Tire Inflation System

2009-10-15T19:19:00.001-07:00

Nitrogen Tire Inflation SystemAuthor: Cooper Miller

Until very recently, advances in tire technology concentrated on the rubber, tread, and the radial metal used in the structure of the tire. Over the past twenty years, the humble tire has come a long way, but one thing remained constant. The means by which the tire was inflated. Now, thanks to huge research into what could improve tire performance for all drivers, nitrogen tire inflation systems are available that are set to revolutionize the whole industry.

Using regular compressed air to fill tires has been the standard practice for more than a century, but the fact is, the air inside the tire is one of the main contributing factors in tire degradation, which can lead to a catastrophic failure in the tire. Using a nitrogen tire inflation system allows you to replace the regular air in the tire with pure inert nitrogen gas, which in turn protects the rubber, and has a number of other important benefits for drivers.

Using a nitrogen tire inflation system allows you to give drivers a more efficient, safer, and more comfortable drive. There are many reasons for this, but they are all related to the fact that when you use nitrogen to fill the tire rather than regular air, less of it escapes, meaning that the pressure is more reliable, so the tire stays at its optimum level.

Normal ambient air contains around 78% nitrogen; however, the remaining 22% is made up of other gases, including around 21% oxygen. Oxygen is one of the most reactive gases in the world, and it can cause a great deal of damage to both the rubber of the tire, and the metal of the rim. Over time, the oxygen degrades the rubber and the metal making the valves less effective, and the rubber more porous. A tire filled with regular air starts to deflate gradually.

Low pressure in a tire means that it has a higher rolling resistance. In turn this means that the engine has to work harder to push the car along, meaning a higher fuel bill. By using a chemically inert gas with a nitrogen tire inflation system, you are able to guarantee a higher internal pressure in the tires. This provides a better ride, better fuel economy, and of course better safety, as a tire that is properly inflated is less likely to fail in use due to proper distribution of weight, and even wear.

Over the next couple of years, as concern about man made climate change grows, and with the ever increasing cost of fuel, many drivers are going to be looking for an edge from their workshop. Nitrogen tire inflation systems are set to be that edge. Imagine being able to offer a single service that can improve fuel efficiency by an average of 8%, extend the lifetime of an expensive part of a car, and provide your customers with a better ride. You can with a Nitrogen tire.

Nitrogen tire inflation systems have been extensively tested by manufacturers such as RTI, and are demonstrating some excellent results. For example, the RTI RTINTF-15 Plus is an excellent piece of equipment for inflating nitrogen tires. The headline of these results is the 8% improvement in fuel economy. To put that amount into perspective, over 12 months, a person who spends $50 per week on fuel would potentially save up to $200 thanks to just replacing the air in their tires with pure nitrogen.

Offering the best possible service to the people who use your workshop or auto repair center means bringing them the latest advances first. Nitrogen tire inflation systems can give your business an edge over the competition, providing you with the means to provide a service that other people cannot, and that can only be a good thing for you and your bank balance.

About the Author:
Jason has been in the construction equipment and industrial sales business for over 10 years. He owns and operates Red Hill Supply to better serve the automotive and industrial industries. - Air Compressors

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - Nitrogen Tire Inflation System

Report of Chinese Medical Instrument Industry under International

2009-10-14T20:23:00.001-07:00

Report of Chinese Medical Instrument Industry under International Financial Crisis, 2009Author: Alice Chen

Although the largest medical instrument markets are America, Europe and Japan now in the world, China is generally acknowledged the hugest potential market. In the developed countries, the output values between medical instruments and manufacture are 1: 19. It is only 1: 5 in China. There is a huge potential for medical instrument market in China.

The direction of Chinese medical system reform is fundamentally clear. The government will increase the investment in the constructions of public hygiene systems, community systems in urban areas and rural grass-root medical hygiene systems. It can be predicted that Chinese medical instrument market will be in a period of rapid growth in two to three years.

At present, the overall world faces the serious strikes of financial crisis. But investment opportunities still exist under international financial crisis. Because the developed countries are affected by the international financial crisis, they are bound to reduce the public welfare budgets and they have reached the agreements to find excellent quality and reasonable price substitutes, which provides growth opportunities for Chinese medical instruments.

From the part of previous history, medicine industry showed their resistance to reduction in the economic depression period because of its fixed consumers. China was a large production and export country of medium and low quality diagnostic equipments, medical dressing and low and medium valued consumables in the world. Many varieties occupied comparative advantages in the international market. Some products had dominated a certain market share in the international market. It was impossible to replace them with substitutes from other countries in a short time. So far, Chinese medicine industry is comparatively steady under the influence of international financial crisis, keeping comparatively high profits in medical instrument industry. It is predicted that more attentions from domestic and international investors will be paid to Chinese medical instrument industry.

The author of this report paid attention to the development of Chinese Medical Instrument Industry for a long time and investigated into Chinese Medical Instrument Industry to write this report citing abundant valuable second -hand information.

More following information can be obtained in this report:

- Production of Chinese Medical Instrument Industr

-Analysis on the Domestic Demands of Chinese Medical Instrument Industry

- Imports and Exports of Chinese Medical Instrument Industry

- Development of Sub-sectors in Chinese Mdical Instrument Industry

- Competitions in Chinese Medical Instrument Industry

- Major Competitive Manufacturers and Their Operations of Chinese Medical Instrument Industry

- Influences of International Financial Crisis on Chinese Medical Instrument Industry

- Development Trends of Chinese Medical Instrument Industry

Summary

At present, Chinese medical instrument industry is in its fast growth period, annual growth speed higher than the whole development level of medicine industry. China has been the third largest medical instrument market after America and Japan. In 2008, the market scale of Chinese medical instrument industry was about 10 billion USD, the annual growth speed past 10%, in which the sales growth speed of high quality medical instruments was over 20%.

But the market scale of Chinese medical instrument only accounts for about 10% of the whole medical manufactures, much lower than the international average level of 40%. Chinese medical instrument manufacturers are 13 thousand, most of which are medium and small companies.

From the end of 2008, Chinese government increased the investments in basic public hygiene networks. Undoubtedly, it would bring development space for medical instrument producers. Government policies are preferential to fundamental medical organizations. Demands for low and medium quality medical instruments were rising by. The major points of medical reform were the perfection of fundamental medical hygiene service systems, speeding up the constructions of rural township clinics, county clinics and community hygiene service organizations in the cities. With more diagnostics in the community hygiene service organizations in the cities, the problems of difficulty and high cost of getting medical could be solved.

In recent years, not only patients but also medical sources would transfer from hospitals to community hygiene service centers and township clinics, driving the demands for low and medium quality medical instruments. During 2005-2008, the number of community hygiene service centers realized the growth speed of more than 20% under the circumstances of reduction in the total Chinese medical organizations.

Under the circumstances of international financial crisis, diagnostic and cure instruments, as the major Chinese medical export instruments, kept a fast growth in 2008. The total export revenues of Chinese medical instruments were 11.07 billion USD with a YOY growth of 31.5%.

Medical products belong to inelastic consumption products. Generally speaking, they are comparatively less influenced by macro-economy, especially in developed countries, such as European Union. Most medical costs are paid by state revenues and social commercial insurance. Therefore, the demands for Chinese diagnostic and cure equipments are still high in the international market.

In 2008, the total import and export revenues of Chinese medical instruments reached to 16.28 billion USD, rising by 28.21% year on year. The export revenues were 11.067 billion USD, increased by 31.46%. The import revenues were 5.216 billion USD with a YOY growth of 21.81%. The medical instrument trade continually kept a trade surplus of 5.851 billion USD.

In 2008, Chinese medical instruments exported to 217 countries and regions. The top five trade partners of Chinese medical instruments were America, Japan, Germany, Hong Kong and Great Britain, accounting for 53.55%, turning down 1.58% compared with 2007. Among the top 20 export revenues of Chinese medical instruments in 2008, Brazil was the country with the largest export growth, reaching to 77.24%.

In 2008, China imported 5.216-billion USD medical instruments from 98 countries and regions, increased by 21.82% year on year. The import volumes from Europe were 2.009 billion USD, rising by 22.78% year on year. The import volumes from Asia were 1.545 billion USD with a YOY growth of 24.36%. The import volumes from North America were 1.543 billion USD, increased by 16.55% year on year. The import volumes from America were 1.5 billion USD, growing by 16.09%. The import volumes from Germany were 955 million USD, increased by 22.44%. The import volumes from Japan were 900 million USD, rising by 24.75%.

Among Chinese import medical instruments, the import volumes of 15 types were over billion USD, five more compared with 2007. 41 types passed the import volumes of hundred million USD, three more compared with 2007. China mainly imported high quality diagnostic equipments and lab equipments so as to fill the blank in Chinese high quality medical instrument market.

Chinese diagnostic and cure equipments, medical dressing and consumables had strong price advantages in the world market. In 2008, the export revenues of Chinese diagnostic and cure equipments reached to 3.616 billion USD, rising by 31.64% year on year. The export revenues of medical dressing were 3.113 billion USD, growing by 29.4% year on year. The export revenues of consumables were 1.854 billion USD, increased by 30.08% year on year.

Among the diagnostic and cure equipments, the export volumes over billion USD concluded: the export volumes of CT were 228 million USD, rising by 49.36% year on year. The export volumes of colored ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus were 203 million USD, increased by 51.54%. The export volumes of nuclear magnetic resonance therapy apparatus were 158 million USD, growing by 79.76%. The export volumes of type-B ultrasonic apparatus were 109 million USD, rising by 5.88%. The export volumes of patient monitoring apparatus were 154 million USD, rising by 26.39%.

To get more details, please visit Report of Chinese Medical Instrument Industry under International Financial Crisis, 2009

About the Author:

Alice is an industry analyst in this field for more than 5 years with depth insight in the recent market trends. Based on the database, Interviews and research methods from China Research and Intelligence, she analyzes the development and opportunities in this industry clearly.

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - Report of Chinese Medical Instrument Industry under International Financial Crisis, 2009

Technology Leads To Reduction Of Nitrogen Generators' Size

2009-10-14T03:24:00.001-07:00

Technology Leads To Reduction Of Nitrogen Generators' SizeAuthor: Groshan Fabiola

As technology improved, so did the nitrogen generator systems, and recent discoveries have led to the reducing of the nitrogen generators size.

These new-generation, small size nitrogen generators are very effective and reliable, and they operate automatically, with very little maintenance required.
The main difference between these nitrogen generators and the normal ones is the size, these small capacity units only take up 60% of the space used by a usual nitrogen generator, saving 40%.
Another difference is that these nitrogen generators do not supply a 99.99..% pure nitrogen, but something around 95% pure, which is not a disadvantage because most users and laboratories don't require 99.99..% pure nitrogen. The nitrogen's purity may be increased to 99.5% if the user desires to do so, by absorbtion or, cheaper, by adding a process to the nitrogen generator, that runs the resulting gas through a special filter that reduces the oxygen concentreation from the resulting gas. Also, if the buyer requests, he will also receive vaporization systems and liquid nitrogen storage together with the nitrogen generator.

These units have been tested, and they have been found to meet al the requirements of a nitrogen generator, and they are the best and cheapest solution to many needs.

The pressure of the gas delivered by the small-size nitrogen generators can vary around 6-7 Bar(g), and it can be increased with the help of a compressor.

In conclusion, these nitrogen generators are the best solution if you wish to save space & money, and not only, they can be used by everybody because they require little maintenance, low power, they have a compact design and they can operate unattended and monitor themselves.

So as a final conclusion compact nitrogen generators are available for purchasing to everyone on the internet maket.

About the Author:

This article is written by Grosan Fabiola. Link advertisment by Site-Trade.com and Business Content Dyrectory. If you would like to find more information about Chemical Generators and especially about Nitrogen Generators please follow these links.

Article Source: ArticlesBase.om - Technology Leads To Reduction Of Nitrogen Generators' Size

The O2 Sensor and You: Why You Need Them

2009-10-13T07:08:00.000-07:00

The O2 Sensor and You: Why You Need ThemAuthor: Eric Ferguson

Modern vehicles are much more complex than their predecessors. Numerous additions have been made to increase fuel economy, as well as to decrease emissions. One of these things is the O2 sensor. All modern cars have at least one sensor, though most have two and several have four sensors. These sensors are located at various points in the exhaust system and play a vital role in both fuel economy and emission regulation.

For the tuner, O2 sensors can be huge pain in the behind. Custom exhausts are a great way to add power and performance to your vehicle. Unfortunately, you can find yourself without a place for your oxygen sensors if you don't buy the right type of pipes and headers. Typically, one sensor will be mounted on the exhaust manifold gasket (which is replaced by the header) and the other will be placed midway down the exhaust pipe, usually just before the catalytic converter.

Together, these two sensor help regulate your fuel/air mixture, as well as EGR valve operation. Without these sensors, your check engine light lights up, your car runs rough and your fuel mileage can significantly decrease. In addition, it's pretty hard (read as impossible) to pass an emissions test without O2 sensors installed. That pesky check engine light will usually give you away.

What do oxygen sensors do? They tell your car's computer the volume of unspent gas fumes in your exhaust gasses. Depending on this reading, your EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) valve will open or close, allowing those fumes to feed your engine and increasing fuel mileage. While tuners are not necessarily interested in getting the best gas mileage or reducing their emissions, you still have to have these babies installed to pass your emissions test. Emissions testing has become mandatory in most urban areas and even in many suburban and rural areas.

In addition to making it impossible to pass the emissions test, the fact that the check engine light remains on makes it difficult to know when another problem has occurred. The check engine light is designed to illuminate under a plethora of different conditions, from sensor malfunction to transmission problems and even loose gas caps (fuel leak sensor). The light will not turn off until you have reinstalled those O2 sensors. So, what are you to do?

The best way to circumvent the problem is to purchase headers and custom exhaust pipes with oxygen sensor bungs already in place. This way, all you have to do is unscrew the sensors from the original pipes and install them in the new ones. The check engine light stays off and you stay legal for testing purposes. Oxygen sensor removal will require a special socket, designed to fit the diameter of the nut made into the sensor, as well as unhooking the wiring harness leading into the vehicle. The harness is usually found a short distance from the sensor; just follow the wire and you will find it. In some vehicles, the wire actually terminates under the seats, inside the car, so be prepared.

About the Author:

Andy's Auto Sport offers a full line of aftermarket automotive parts including body kits, carbon fiber hoods and more. For more information, visit Andy's Auto Sport online.

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - The O2 Sensor and You: Why You Need Them

Offshore Medical Billing Company: Save 60% US Cost!!!

2009-10-13T01:22:00.001-07:00

Offshore Medical Billing Company: Save 60% US Cost!!!Author: Thakar Upendra-SEO

Outsource medical billing services to offshore medical billing company and get benefits of offshore medical coding and billing services. We are expert in accurate work and in providing tailor made medical coding and billing solutions. Offshore Medical Billing has excellent techniques and highly skilled professional medical coders. Medical billing and coding services is a very demanding and important for small business.

Save up to 60% US cost on Medical Billing and Coding Projects!

We have particular skill in medical transcription, medical billing and coding services. Outsourcing medical billing may not always translate directly into cost savings; however it can enhance performance and quality. Medical billing company can handle medical billing claims from original submission to re-imbursement; medical billing partner will file all necessary appeals to get your claim handled by the carrier.

(Medical billing and coding, medical coding company, medical billing company, medical claim and billing specialist, private medical insurance uk, medical insurance company uk, health insurance medical private uk, medical industry uk, medical transcription online, medical transcription company)

Offshore Medical Billing offer Medical Billing and Coding services with 100% accuracy such as:

? Medical Claims Billing - electronic and paper

? Medical Data Entry - patient demographics, details like place date type of service, and referring physician, CPT and ICD Codes, and Modifiers are keyed into the billing system.

? Appeals - make appeals for denials and incorrect payments

? Payment Posting and Reconciliation

? Medical Claims Management

? Collections Management

Offshore medical billing and coding company is well-known in medical industry in UK. Our company also covers medical insurance processing services in UK, USA and Canada country.

To get medical billing and coding services, please contact medical billing experts now!!! Get a Free quote at: http://www.offshoremedicalbilling.com/contact.php OR E-mail us at: info@offshoremedicalbilling.com

About the Author:

Name: James Weider
URL: http://www.offshoremedicalbilling.com
Email: info@offshoremedicalbilling.com

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - Offshore Medical Billing Company: Save 60% US Cost!!!

Oxygen for Your Skin, Oxygen For LIfe

2009-10-11T15:32:00.000-07:00

Oxygen for Your Skin, Oxygen For LIfeAuthor: Natalia Saborio

At what age do you think the skin begins to feel a lack of oxygen?

After 20 years the activity of skin cells starts to slow down, and skin start to experience oxygen starvation. At the age of 30 the concentration of O2 is reduced on average by 30% and up to the 40 years, by 50%! This leads to the slowing of metabolic processes, and contributes to premature skin aging. Special skin care is needed at any age to combat this very serious problem.

I started using Oxygen cosmetics, but I haven’t noticed significant improvements yet. What else can be done to improve my skin health and youthfulness?

There are many things that can be done to help. For example, in skin care it’s important to maintain the oxygen balance. The higher the level of oxygen in the body, the greater the quantity can be used to maintain the beauty and skin health. I highly recommend combining cosmetic procedures with healthy sleep, hiking in the fresh air, and usage of oxygen cocktails.

Do we need additional oxygen for our skin? After all, we always get it from the atmosphere.

We only get a small percent of oxygen through the skin. And that amount alone is very hard for the skin to absorb. Besides, using make-up forms another barrier that makes it harder for oxygen to get in. Add in stresses, bad habit and these lead to the point when the skin starts to suffocate. Cells just don’t have strength to renew quick enough and assimilate all the active substances that are supplied to them through the air we breathe. The results of oxygen deficit are dryness, wrinkles and a dull complexion. It is possible to improve the situation with the help of beauty salons procedures, or using the right type cosmetics. Use the range of cosmetic according your skin type and use it as recommended.

RIMMA KONEEVA, PhD, director of scientific development Faberlic

About the Author:

Nataliya Saborio is a specialist in Russian Cosmetics and Oxygen Cosmetics. Her detailed understanding of anti-aging techniques to prolong the beauty of the skin is well noted. Join her at http://www.russianbeautysecrets.com for more detailed information on how Russian Cosmetics can help you.

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - Oxygen for Your Skin, Oxygen For LIfe

Nitrogen and you

2009-10-10T19:13:00.001-07:00

Nitrogen and youAuthor: michael bailey

Nitrogen is the building block of life - it is the basis of protein both in plants and in our bodies. If there is more nitrogen in the soil, farmers can grow more crops in the same soil but greater use of the same soil makes it poorer in minerals unless farmers replace them.

Catalysts for Nitrogen Fixation: Nitrogenases, Relevant Chemical Models and Commercial Processes (Nitrogen Fixation: Origins, Applications, and Research Progress)

Minerals are simple inorganic chemicals required by living organisms. They act as catalysts for vital processes. Plants usually obtain their mineral salts and trace minerals from the soil while animals obtain theirs from food. For example, plants need magnesium for photosynthesis while humans need magnesium and zinc for the production of hormones and maintaining strength levels. There are many trace minerals which we know are important to human nutrition but do not know exactly how.

Minerals came to my attention many years ago when I received an audio cassette in the mail from somebody network-marketing supplements. I had tried taking vitamins but had not noticed any difference except my urine turned a different color, so had dismissed the idea of nutritional supplementation.

The cassette contained the famous lecture 'Dead Doctors Don't Lie' by Joel Wallach. Its premise is that we all suffer from a deficiency of minerals and that the medical profession profits from our malnutrition. This is an extreme view of the medical profession; that it has an interest in the population remaining malnourished. You do not have to subscribe to this viewpoint to agree that our diet is deficient in minerals. It is deficient because our food production is industrialized. Michael Pollan, in his excellent book 'A History Of Four Meals', gives us a short history that helps us understand why minerals lost out in the effort to harvest nitrogen.

Before the invention of nitrogen-fixing, the supply of nitrogen on Earth was severely limited even though 80% of the Earth's atmosphere is nitrogen. Until then, the only way to capture nitrogen and put it in the soil ('fix' it) so it could feed plants, and therefore end up in our bodies, was to plant legumes in the fields. The amount of grains that farmers could grow was severely limited by the amount of nitrogen available in the soil. Farmers had to rotate crops so that corn could only be grown every other year, interspersed with years of growing legumes to put back nitrogen and other nutrients. They would also graze farm animals and spread manure from livestock in the fields to put back more nutrients.

In 1909, a German chemist called Fritz Haber invented a process to fix nitrogen from the atmosphere and convert it into ammonia which could then be used to make ammonium nitrate. He developed this technology for the purpose of manufacturing nitrates for explosives for the German war effort in the First World War. He also developed poison gases such as ammonia, chlorine and Zyklon B which was used in Hitler' concentration camps. Only later did his invention find a use in agriculture.

Michael Pollan identifies 1947 as the year when the era of the industrialization of food production began. A munitions factory at Muscle Shoals, Alabama which used the Haber-Bosch (Bosch commercialized the process) nitrogen-fixing process had a huge surplus of ammonium nitrate, the main ingredient in making explosives. In order to use up this surplus, it switched over to making chemical fertilizer. The Department of Agriculture decided to use the ammonium nitrate as fertilizer on farmland.

The old methods of crop rotation and depending on vegetables and grazing animals to restore nitrogen and other nutrients to the soil became unnecessary once farmers could purchase fertility in the form of bags of ammonium nitrate fertilizer.

If Haber had not found this way of artificially supplementing the nitrogen in farm soil, the population explosion associated with industrial expansion could not have happened. Pollan refers to a book by Vaclav Smil, Enriching The Earth, that estimates that two out of every five humans alive today would not be alive without Haber's invention. He rates the invention of fixing nitrogen as the most important of the twentieth century.

The end of crop rotation and the relentless, intensive use of farmland for producing one or two crops (usually corn and soybeans) which have been enabled by ammonium nitrate fertilizer mean that minerals are taken out of the soil and, if they are put back, are only put back artificially and inconsistently by farmers. Typically, apart from the nitrogen in ammonium nitrate, they only put back a few minerals, the main ones being potassium and phosphorus. They may also put calcium, sulfur, magnesium and sometimes boron, manganese, iron, zinc, copper and molybdenum. They certainly do not put back all the minerals that the human body requires.

Therefore, what we have gained in the availability of nitrogen and the quantity of food that we can grow, we have lost in nutritional value from essential minerals. We cannot rely on industrial food to provide the minerals we need.

About the Author:

I work in information technology supporting the health care program of a pension system, so am familiar with the issues of our health care system.

I believe that your health and fitness is a statement - how you perceive yourself and how you want others to perceive you. And you can have both at the age of fifty. My site exists to collect together my reading and experience and summarize what I have learned:

http://www.healthatfifty.com

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - Nitrogen and you

Medical Assistant Career ? Opening Doors to a Profession in Healthcare

2009-10-10T04:13:00.001-07:00

Medical Assistants

Medical Assisting Basics: All You Need to Know to Become a Medical Assistant
Medical Assistant Career – Opening doors to a profession in healthcare services.

Medical Assistant careers are gathering demand in the background of a healthcare industry boom worldwide.
A Medical Assistant essentially is a healthcare professional with multiple responsibilities and skill sets required to execute the same. Both administrative and medical tasks that do not need much medical proficiency fall into the ambit of a Medical Assistant.

Medical Assistants are indispensable in any modern day healthcare practice. Engaged under physicians, podiatrists, chiropractors, and other health practitioners. Medical Assistants attend to the complexities involved in delivering medical services.

By accomplishing administrative and other responsibilities, Medical Assistants make it easier for the practitioners to concentrate on attending to and treating patients.

Medical Assistants execute varied administrative, laboratory and clinical tasks in different health care institutions.

Often, Medical Assistants are seen as generalists who are involved with many aspects of the medical profession but do not specialize in them.

A detailed overview of the activities of a Medical Assistant is given here:

Administrative duties:
General administration which includes day-to-day activities and other tasks. These include:
• Communication – both internal and external and office correspondence.
• Patient welfare - maintenance of patient records, insurance forms, scheduling appointments, arranging for hospital admission.
• Billing and bookkeeping.
• Maintain medical and drug supplies.

Clinical duties:
Clinical duties require discreet manual dexterity and visual acuity. A Medical Assistant has to support the medical practitioner with the following:
• Recording vital signs.
• Preparing patients for examination, explaining treatment procedures to patients.
• Assisting the physician during the examination.
• Instructing patients about medications and special diets.
• Preparation and administration of medications.

Laboratory tasks:
Laboratory tasks include:
• Collection and preparation of laboratory specimens.
• Performing basic laboratory tests on the premises.
• Draw blood, prepare patients for X-rays, take electrocardiograms, remove sutures and change dressings.
• Disposal of contaminated supplies and sterilization of medical instruments.

Medical Assistants employed at small medical outfits may undertake both administrative and clinical duties and report directly to the office manager or health practitioner.

Larger medical outfits have Medical Assistants reporting to department administrators and specializing only in a particular area.

Medical Assistant - Essential qualities and skills:

Duties entailed in medical assisting vary with the type of health care facility, size, location and specialisation.

A pleasant disposition is a must as Medical Assistants constantly interact with patients and public. Courteous manners, a well groomed personality and an aptitude for making people feel at ease are essential.

Simple medical and clinical skills and administrative abilities are integral to the profile of a Medical Assistant.

Traditionally, Medical Assistants did not need to be certified as they learnt on the job. This scenario has changed and contemporary medical practices prefer trained and certified Medical Assistant professionals to untrained individuals.

Medical Assistant Training and Certification:
Healthcare industry is increasingly in favour of trained Medical Assistants. The need for technically sound personnel who have the flexibility of handling both clinical and administrative tasks is on the rise. The trend is an offshoot of the need felt by doctors to concentrate on treating patients rather than on other functional details.

Certification is a mark of the individual having been trained and qualified in the profession.

A Medical Assistant certificate stands as a certainity of successful training. Also, securing a Medical Assistant certificate assures higher professional satisfaction and recognition. Compared to uncertified individuals, the formal education and the Medical Assistant certificate help them in advance faster in their profession.

The Medical Assistant certificate can be secured by both experienced and inexperienced individuals. Experienced professionals may not have to take a certification exam. Inexperienced candidates though will have to undergo rigorous training from an accredited vocational training institution.

Medical Assistant certification or registration will put the individual a step ahead from counterparts.

Medical Assistant registration and certification are the same. It's just that different certifying bodies have different terms for referring to a Medical Assistant cerificate.

With many Medical Assistant schools mushrooming in the market, it is important that one acquires education and secures Medical Assistant registration from a reputed and reliable source.

Medical Assistant Education:

Medical Assistant education obtained from a high grade vocational training institution is a sure way to a successful Medical Assistant career.

Schools offering Medical Assistant education abound in the market. Making the right choice of schools makes the difference in education in medical assistance.

St.Augustine's School of Medical Assistants offers accredited and affordable distance Medical Assistant education online.

Medical Assistant education at St.Augustine's is comprehensive and does not leave out any element crucial to training. The 24/7 online training facility provides classes, knowledge resources and virtual laboratory training online.

Distance Medical Assistant education:

St. Augustine's Medical Assistants school offers distance education through online courses. Distance education is favoured by Medical Assistant aspirants who are already working and studying part time. Distance Medical Assistant education gives such candidates the flexibility of scheduling their study time around their working hours.

The Medical Assistant Program at St.Augustine's:

Medical Assistant program at St. Augustine's is an online training course that is available anytime and anywhere. With this program, accomplishing certifications is a matter of just 6-8 weeks from commencement.

The program includes complete online courses along with training on laboratory skills and facilities to perform laboratory tasks.

The advantage with St. Augustine's Medical Assistant program is that, the student can take up the course at his own pace and convenience. Since it is online, the course can be accessed from anywhere in the world.

Whether it is a full time student or a working person wanting to study part time, the online Medical Assistant program is a convenient way to Medical Assistant registration.

The course ware for the Medical Assistant program is developed and regularly updated by experts from diverse disciplines, health care professionals and practitioners making it one of the best available programs for Medical Assistants.

Medical Assistant classes online:

On signing up for the Medical Assistant program, students have the convenience of accessing classes online. According to individual schedules, Medical Assistant students can access these classes at their own convenience.

Medical Assistant classes at St. Augustine's deal with the following subjects:

Medical Terminology, Human Body Planes, Basic Human Anatomy and Physiology, Medical Office Professionalism, Patient Communication, Medical Records, Basic Medical Law, Scheduling Appointments, Medical Billing and Insurance Claims, Infection Control, Surgical Instruments, Emergency Care, Clinical Equipment, Patient History and Physicals, EKG and Lab Testing, Specimen Collection and Lab Safety, Introduction to Patient Medications.

The classes also cover Clinical Laboratory training online. These include:
Virtual Phlebotomy Lab (Collecting a Blood Sample), Virtual Injection Lab, Medication injections, Measuring A Pulse, Introduction to CPR and Basic Ultrasound.

At St. Augustine's School of Medical Assistants, enrolling gives students the advantage of well designed Medical Assistant programs, curricula, online classes, an accredited Medical Assistant certificate within 6-8 weeks!

St. Augustine's educational services:

Educational services offered by St. Augustine's Medical Assistant school aim at providing vocational training for Medical Assistant aspirants.

St. Augustine's educational services are unique in their approach to training, course design, teaching techniques etc. The ultimate goal is to give students the best value for the money they have invested in Medical Assistant registration training.

The distance education program offered under St. Augustine educational services online is a high turnaaround, quality program that is accredited, affordable and convenient.

St. Augustine's online educational services are affordable as they cut down travelling, instructional material and other costs. It can be accessed by students wherever they are, whenever they want and brings the convenience factor into education. Online educational services at St. Augustine's are accredited and hence give best value for money spent on educating oneself.

St. Augustine's educational services online are a passport to a shining career as a Medical Assistant.

Health care careers are fruitful for certified Medical Assistants:

Health care careers are being sought after nowadays as high return professions both on the monetary front and on the satisfaction front. The booming health care industry is demanding technically qualified personnel and the market is ripe for professions like Medical Assistants, Hospital Assistants and others.

Thanks to the boom, health care careers are highly in need of well trained staff. Vocational education in professions like Medical Assistants provides an effective solution for the demand. By training students for the specific job and also focusing on overall life skills, educational services like that offered by St.Augustine's are enhancing employability of individuals.
Health care professionals – upgrade skills for advancing careers:
Employment opportunities in flexible health care careers like that of Medical Assistants are predicted to increase mutifold. Infact Medical Assistant health care careers are expected to grow much faster than the average for all other occupations.

Certified Medical Assistants with experience will definitely be highly sought after as a result. Health care professionals like registered Medical Assistants with experience stand to gain in a big way.

Experienced and trained Medical Assistants may be able to advance faster than other health care professionals. By adding on to their existing skill sets and certifications, they can gain over health care professionals.

Moreover pliable health care professionals like Medical Assistants have open occupational choices and opportunities form a variety of health care setups.

The future certainly seems to be beckoning Medical Assistant careers. All one needs to do is to gear up with an accredited Medical Assistant certificate.

The health care industry wants you – Medical Assistants, sit up and get registered!

Advance your careers with online Medical Assistant distance education programs from St.Augustine.

Copyright : St. Augustine Educational Services
(http://www.medassistant.org/)

You can reproduce this article as long as you leave this copy right statement and links unchanged.

Contact us:
Ravi
medicalassistant@linkenablers.com

Oxygen Analyzer- The Most Vital Element to Human Health

2009-10-09T17:42:00.001-07:00

Oxygen Analyzer- The Most Vital Element to Human Health

Author: Impacterp.com

Bhoomi Analyzers with wide analytical instruments product range, forms an integral part of process automation in process industries. Max-O2 Oxygen Analyzer Our dedication has made us the pioneers in this field. Our in house research and development has enabled us to enhance the product quality and reliability remarkably.

Oxygen is the most vital element for the human body. So why is it then, the one element of our health that we all take for granted. The answer is simple- while we are breathing one breath after another, we just presume that we are getting enough of it! The truth is though, that this is not the case. 200 years ago the quality of the air was much higher with an oxygen quantity of 30%. Today though, as a result of global pollution and the depletion of our natural resources the air only contains 19% oxygen and in some cities as low as 10% oxygen.

Oxygen in the blood stream nourishes the body's cells, creates energy and helps break down waste products and toxins. It creates immune system defense and it regulates the body's pH balance. Oxygen plays a crucial role in the fight against disease. It has been proven that diseases such as Cancerthrive in an acid pH, so it is imperative that we oxygenate our bodies and maintain an Alkaline pH if we wish to maintain our health and wellness.

Oxygen in the body is necessary for all vital functions and the elimination of waste products. Oxygen gives our bodies the fighting power to resist pathogens, bacteria and viruses.

It is a proven fact that oxygen deficiency eventually leads to disease or illness of some form. "Insufficient oxygen means insufficient biological energy that can result in anything from mild fatigue to life threatening disease" as quoted by Dr W Spencer Way- who wrote in the Journal of the American Association of Physicians.

There are many factors that cause Oxygen Deficiency. Some of these are : Overcooking our food which kills the enzymes, Breathing carbon monoxide fumes which strips oxygen from the blood, Eating processed foods that have little or no oxygen content and are full of chemicals, Drinking tap water with chemical additives such as flouride, De-forestation, Alcohol and Lack of exercise.

It is a proven fact that diseases such as cancer and AIDS, herpes and hepatitis, cannot tolerate high oxygen cells in the blood stream. This alone is reason enough to make a conscious effort to ensure you are oxygenating the blood. If you feel that factors of your environment could be depleting the oxygen supply to your bloodstream, be sure to take a daily oxygen supplement to help counteract these factors.

BHOOMI make analyzers installed at most of the sites are trouble free and have proven long life. Many Industries have shown confidence in us by placing REPETITIVE ORDERS. We are committed to our clients and provide the best after sale services.

Bhoomi Analyzers have vast experience in Analytical Instruments. We manufacture In-situ Zirconia based Oxygen Analyzers, Oxygen Analyzer, continuous emissions monitoring systems, Portable Combustion Analyzers, Flue Gas Analyzer and other sampling systems.

About the Author:

Impact ERP helps small and medium business Software ERP Software India, CRM Solutions India, ERP India, ERP accounting software, Enterprise Solutions, CRM, Supply Chain Manegement Systems, MRP and Customized application software at Bangalore, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Goa and Chennai, India.

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - Oxygen Analyzer- The Most Vital Element to Human Health

Dealing With Common Medical Conditions

2009-10-08T05:47:00.001-07:00

Dealing With Common Medical Conditions

Author: Common Medical Conditions

It could take ages to consider all of the most common medical conditions.. The reason being is many conditions seem to change overnight. For instance, HIV/AIDS used to be considered a rare condition, then around the 80's and early 90's it seemed to have a noticable increase.

Although we can't tell you what doctors depict as being rare compared to common, we have comprised a list of some of the most widely diagnosed conditions. You do not have to be suffering from one of these conditions in order to view it as common. The term "common" is more leaning towards a wider percentage of people who do have these particular conditions.

Migraines- Unfortunately, we've all had to deal with a headache or two, however, minor headaches are not seen as a serious illness that you should rush to your doctor about. When the severity of the headaches escalate so high that they become a debilitating condition suffered on a regular basis, they are then referred to as migraines. In this case, it is recommended that you see a doctor.

ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) ? Diagnosis of ADHD has increased a great deal. This disorder yields symptoms such as: inability to concentrate, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. While this is extremely common in children and teens, adults may also suffer from ADHD, feeling more of a sense of restlessness than hyperactivity. ADHD treatment varies, though most often it is treated through medication.

Depression is a very common condition that more than 45% of Americans suffer. Most people experience depression throughout their lives in some way or another, and some cases can be much more severe than others. Some people are more prone to become depressed due to life circumstances or experiences, such as new mothers, war veterans, or someone who has recently lost a loved one.

Some other conditions you may be familiar with are the symptoms of allergy and asthma, as well as influenza, or the ?flu.? Severe allergy and asthma conditions are usually treated through doctor-prescribed medications. Treating flu symptoms is generally easier, as it can often be tamed with over-the-counter medications.

Common medical conditions are just that?common. There is no need to panic about them, doctors have the way to treat you for a common medical problem down to a science, so no need to worry, you will be just fine.

About the Author:

http://www.commonmedicalconditions.net

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - Dealing With Common Medical Conditions

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Buy Product : Common Medical Diagnoses: An Algorithmic Approach (Common Medical Diagnoses: An Algorithmic Approach (Healey))

The APSA Process In Nitrogen Generataors

2009-10-08T05:40:00.001-07:00

The APSA Process In Nitrogen Generataors

Author: Groshan Fabiola

Some of the new-generation nitrogen generators use the APSA process to generate nitrogen. This APSA process relies on the fractionated distillation of air at very low (cryogenic) temperatures, and in only one column. In other words, APSA nitrogen generators are nitrogen generators that use cryogenic distillation of air to generate nitrogen.

After the air is being compressed, it is purified in the nitrogen generator, so that the cryogenic operation runs smoothly. The air is being compressed at around 9 bars with a centrifugal or a screw compressor and afterwards cooled down with the help of a cooling unit.

The air that runs through the nitrogen generator must then be purified, so it passes through several filters and cooled down some more.

Afterwards the criogenic process must intervene, so the air enters a special area of the nitrogen generator, the cooling area, and then the oxygen in the air is separated from the nitrogen. At the bottom of the area there will be a liquid that is oxygen-rich and at the top the desired nitrogen.
The low temperature inside the nitrogen generator is mantained using a small quantity of liquid nitrogen, which is then added at the produced nitrogen.

This process is designed so that it's all automatically controlled, it requires no manual procedures. If problems occur, the nitrogen generator is created so that it will try to solve them on its own.
For example, if the nitrogen consumption increases, a pressure regulator will maintain the normal pressure. Or, if the concentration of oxygen is too high, the APSA process is automatically closed and the excess of oxygen is ventilated outside. Furthermore, the nitrogen generator waits for the oxygen levels to decrease, and if they don't, the whole system is shut down. When this occurs, the nitrogen generator takes safety precautions.

About the Author:

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - The APSA Process In Nitrogen Generataors

Nitrogen Tire Inflation

2009-10-07T08:52:00.000-07:00

Author: Megan Criss

Filling your tires with Nitrogen instead of traditional air is becoming increasingly popular with the average driver. Nitrogen has long been used in the aircraft industry, on the race car circuit, and in the military. Now everyday drivers are realizing the benefits of Nitrogen tire inflation.

Here are the top five benefits of using Nitrogen to fill your tires.

Maintain Consistent Tire Pressure - Using Nitrogen instead of air to fill your tires allows the proper tire pressure to be maintained for longer periods of time. This is important for adding to the life of your tires as well as increasing the safety of the vehicle. Maintaining the proper tire pressure also improves gas mileage therefore saving money in fuel costs for your vehicle.

Protect Your Tires and Rims - Oxygen in compressed air is responsible for water vapor or moisture that builds up inside a tire. This moisture triggers inner oxidation of the rubber which can lead to tire wear or even blow-outs. Nitrogen in your tires eliminates the build up of moisture and prevents inner wheel corrosion.

Tires Run Cooler - The moisture created by Oxygen in tires causes friction within the tire as it spins. This friction causes heat to build up and makes the moisture turn back in to a gaseous state. This then increases the tire pressure. Replacing the Oxygen with Nitrogen in your tires will eliminate the moisture, prevent the friction and heat, and maintain a more consistent tire pressure. The tires will remain cooler and the tread will wear evenly.

Safety - Nitrogen is a safe gas to use in your tires. As mentioned earlier, it has been used by the airline, race car, and trucking industries as well as the U.S. Military for years.

Good for the Environment - Nitrogen in your tires helps to maintain the proper tire pressure for longer periods of time, thereby increasing your gas mileage and requiring less fuel to be consumed. You are also preserving your tires by protecting them from premature treadwear, resulting in fewer tires being thrown away. Nitrogen tire inflation can help save our environment from pollution caused by the burning of fuel and can help save space in our landfills.

Choosing Nitrogen tire inflation for your vehicle can help maximize your tire\'s life, your vehicle\'s safety, and put money right back in your pocket by improving gas mileage and preserving your tires for longer periods of usage. Not only that, filling your tires with Nitrogen instead of air is the environmentally friendly choice.

Be sure to ask about the availability of a Nitrogen Tire Filling Station at your tire or automotive shop during your next visit. It will be your first step to an improved driving experience.

About the Author:

The TireBlast™ is a Nitrogen Tire Filling Station from South-Tek Systems that can be found in sutomotive, trucking, and tire shops. Learn more at www.SouthTekSystems.com/tire-blast.asp.

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - Nitrogen Tire Inflation

O2 Xda Trion: Oxygen for Life

2009-10-07T06:22:00.001-07:00

Author: Adam Jaylin-

A Windows Smartphone based on the original HTC Hermes, the latest gizmo from O2 is the O2 XDA Trion. The first thing that catches your attention in this remarkable phone is the wonderful touchscreen display that sports a 240x320 pixel resolution and unfurls an astounding 65,000 colours! The camera isn't the best though and is limited to 2 MP, but gives excellent results in almost all light conditions. Because the phone is expected to be a 3G device as well, there is a secondary camera for video calling as well.-

Other than being a 3G or a 3.5 G device, the O2 XDA Trion has several connectivity features as well. The usual being GPRS, Bluetooth, Wireless LAN (WiFi) support, EDGE, Infrared and USB support. Being a quad-band GSM handset, you will never be stuck without telephonic connectivity, no matter which part of the world you would be in. -

But the most amazing feature of O2 XDA Trion remains the QWERTY keyboard. It is a slide-out version which is very convenient, just like a tablet PC. Alternately, you can even use a stylus to operate the touchscreen. There handwriting recognition application is generally reduced for amusement!!-

For the entertainment buffs, there is a dedicated media player that supports multiple formats. Also, the phone supports Java MIDP 2.0, so that you can download your favourite 3-D games to spend some very happy hours in the company of your phone. -

Finally, for those who like to take their work along, wherever they go, XDA Trion runs on Windows Mobile 5.0, and you van view your official MS Office based documents through the pocket versions of Outlook, Internet Explorer, Word, Excel and PowerPoint!-

Obviously, being loaded with so many features means that the price tag is going to be pretty stiff as well. All good things come for a price, but any price is worth it for the multi faceted O2 XDA Trion that will stay your faithful companion, no matter in which mood you are!

About the Author:-

Adam Jaylin would provide you the latest info on Mobile Phones

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - O2 Xda Trion: Oxygen for Life

Nitrogen

2009-10-07T04:04:00.000-07:00

Medical

2009-10-07T04:03:00.001-07:00

Oxygen O2

2009-10-07T04:03:00.000-07:00

10 Tips for doing medical device business in Israel

2009-10-07T02:13:00.001-07:00

Israel is the only "western" country in the Middle East. With a population of 7.4 Million, it is well known for innovation, both from developing & export, & for technology adoption. The high level of medical care is led by a few university hospitals in the 4 major cities. Being a small country, one may feel that everybody knows everyone.

A few tips that may help a company considering entering the Israeli market:

Regulatory ? if you have CE or FDA approvals you shall not have regulatory difficulties.
Reimbursement - Define the procedures of your product, most of the products don?t need special reimbursement (especially if they are a part of the procedure), if you need special reimbursement ? it could take 1-3 years, but it does not prevent penetration of the products to the Israeli market to some extent.
Procedures opportunities - Define the KOL (Key opinion leaders) by the number of procedures, their activity and/or by number of patients that they see, not by their name. The use of media for personal PR may bias one away from the real high volume clinicians.
Define the market segment -
The Israeli market offers great opportunities for all the product segments:

? Low cost products - The health expenditure in Israel is one of the highest worldwide. The MOH and hospitals try to reduce the expenditure on the medical devices.

? New technologies: The regulatory and the reimbursement allow fast penetration to the market. However, pricing may pose a problem sometimes .But the private market (35% of the procedures) could be a great solution as a first penetration step.

Allocate the distributors ? In Israel you will find a large number of medical distributors. You have to be careful, because Israeli people are very ambitious. You have to check their background, their products portfolio and receive recommendation from the KOL. Also, you have to manage a close and friendly relationship with them, while checking the opportunities all the time. It is recommended to allocate distributors who are familiar with the MOH and sick fund system, having a deep understanding in regulatory and reimbursement issues, having a good presence in the private market.
Define early adapters ? most of the KOL in Israel are early adapters . But for innovative medical device, one has to define the relevant KOL, with commitment for the products and should have willingness for a long standing commitment, since the chances of moving away are high in case of Innovators.
High end technologies ? If you have new technologies (and not ?me-to? technologies that compete only in terms of price) divide your target for private market and public market. Technologies are found to grow faster, if penetration is performed via the private market first.
Rabbis? Israel is mainly a Jewish country. Although most of the peoples are not religious, a fair number of people consult with special rabbis known as "medical professionals". Rabbis are giving second opinion regarding the treatment, regarding the doctors & the technologies. In case of innovative, pioneering technologies, after getting the support of the right doctors, it's highly recommended to inform this group of influential people.

Medical Aromatherapy of Biobell

2009-10-06T02:46:00.001-07:00

Medical Aromatherapy of BioBell

Even though aromatherapy oil products are popular these days, there are not so many people who know the application and the effect of aromatherapy properly.

For example, just because you use the aromatherapy oils when you feel bad, it does not mean you are getting better on the medical side.

If you want to feel the effect using the aromatherapy oils, it would be better that you use the blended oils with more than tree kinds of essential oils in proper ratio.

BioBell manufactures and sales various medical aromatherapy products.

BioBell is researching and producing aromatherapy products and natural cosmetic products.

BioBell Aromatherapy products show very good effects for the diseases and problems which are difficult to be treated by ordinary methods including modern medicine and any other alternative therapies.

By long term and extensive results of treatments by BioBell Aromatherapy products at over 450 hospitals and clinics in Korea, BioBell Aromatherapy products revealed to be very satisfactory for the refractory diseases.

Here is a case of a patient.

Ji-Soo Kim (53 years old) had the symptoms of frozen shoulder for 13 months.

Symptoms were limitation of motion of the shoulder joint, severe sharp catching pain in the shoulder, and pain without trauma in left elbow joint.

She took the injections and medicines in orthopedics but her symptoms were not getting better.

Just after 10 minutes of application of Releagen (BioBell?s medical aromatherapy product), joint movement range of right shoulder was recovered completely and pain of right wrist and left elbow joint was also recovered promptly. After 30 minutes, she could not have any problem with motion and pain.

Characteristics of BioBell Aromatherapy products

1. In case of products for musculoskeletal pain treatment, usually you can feel the big effect after first trial and usually after 10 minutes.

2. There is no other same products which having same effects in the world.

3. The side effects is very rare comparing to medicines and is very trivial when occurred.

4. All the products are made from only from natural plants materials.

Officlal URL: http://www.naturalson.com/

Read Before Buying Toyota Camry Oxygen Sensor

2009-10-06T02:43:00.001-07:00

Most modern oxygen sensors have a 100,000-mile life expectancy, and when your oxygen sensor gets a little old and worn, you'll notice a drop in fuel economy. More extreme cases of oxygen sensor malfunction can lead to drivability issues and eventually trigger other indicators of the problem such as a Check Engine light. Acting in a closed loop feedback control for fuel-injected engines, oxygen sensors signal the amount of oxygen in the vehicle's exhaust. This signal is used by the engine to fine-tune the mixture to the optimum level for maximum engine efficiency and longevity. In addition to enabling more efficient fuel injection, the oxygen sensor acts as an emissions control to reduce the amount of unburnt fuel (pollution in the form of air-borne hydrocarbons) and oxides of nitrogen from entering the atmosphere. Worn or failing oxygen sensors can cause excessive gasoline consumption, elevated exhaust emissions, accelerated catalytic converter damage along with engine performance problems such as surging and hesitation.

Businesses Can Save Energy and Cut Expenses with a Nitrogen Generator

2009-10-06T02:38:00.001-07:00

It's not just you and your eco-conscious neighbors who are looking for ways to conserve energy and preserve the environment. The term "carbon footprint" is the new catchword of the day, and businesses are learning that it applies to their own big "shoe" as well.

Saving energy makes sense all around. Businesses that put energy conservation measures in place help preserve the environment, make use of renewable resources, AND save money.

There are plenty of simple ways that businesses can encourage energy conservation, recycling, and environmental awareness, both on an individual and corporate level.

For instance, research shows that recycling an aluminum can save 95 percent of the energy required to make the same amount of aluminum from virgin materials. Producing glass from virgin materials requires 30 percent more energy than producing it from crushed, used glass; recycled paper requires about 60 percent of the energy used to make paper from virgin wood pulp.

If your company has an application or production need for Nitrogen, PSA and Membrane Nitrogen Gas Generators cut down on energy use considerably by completely eliminating the necessity of converting nitrogen into liquid form for transportation and delivery. Making liquid Nitrogen requires that Nitrogen gas be pressurized and cooled to very low temperatures, a process that involves a large amount of energy.

Nitrogen generators cut out that process entirely, since all you need is a source of compressed air - an infinitely renewable resource - to make Nitrogen gas. As the air is fed into the generator, oxygen and other molecules are trapped, then vented out while the Nitrogen is pushed into a storage tank.

Nitrogen Gas Generators are a simpler, "greener", and far more cost-effective way to meet your Nitrogen needs.

A Nitrogen Generator "borrows" Nitrogen from the air for your application. It then goes right back out to the air where it belongs, without dragging along dirt or contaminants with it, or creating any other particulate or nasty substance to alter the world around us. Nitrogen Generators also cut down on huge tankers hauling liquid down our nation's highways. Plus, Nitrogen comprises more than 78% of the air, so it is an infinitely renewable resource.

And what will you do with the money you save when you end your gas contract and make your own Nitrogen with a Nitrogen Generator? You might look into even more opportunities to be greener with your business. Corporate tax incentives for energy efficient lighting, building insulation, renewable energy resources and many more energy and cost saving technologies have been in place for several years, and some have been extended this year. Considering some "green" modifications with the money you no longer pay the gas company might make those savings go even farther with energy conscious tax breaks.

Investing in a Nitrogen Generator will result in a positive return on investment for both your business and the world around you. Consider making this change today.

Nitrogen Infalted Tyres For Your Car

2009-10-04T19:41:00.000-07:00

Every one replaces one thing with something. Car manufacturers replaces old models with a new car. People replace their petrol or diesel fuel with the LPG or the CNG kits. Then why not replace the air in a tyre? Shocked?

But it is true, we can replace the air with nitrogen in tyres. Nitrogen in tyres is not a new concept.It was used in aircraft tyres, military vehicles, racing bikes and the also in the Formula one cars. It is often said that Nitrogen inflated tyres are better than the air inflated tyres. Oxygen in the compressed air tyres penetrate through the tyre walls and causes under- inflation. This will also lead to the decaying of the rubber particles. Where as in the nitrogen inflated tyres, due to lack of oxidation, the nitrogen does not escape. In the air inflated tyres, as oxygen enters through rubber there is possibility of steel belts and the steel bead rusting.

Oxidation will further lead to overheating of tyre, reduces life of tyre and also results in blow outs. An under inflated tyre is very much prone to friction. Over a period of time it will not be able to carry the load the vehicle is designed for. The steering will turn slow and sluggish. And all this problems can lead to disastrous results. The air tyres is composed of 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen and about 1% water vapour and other gases. Whereas dry nitrogen is cooler, lighter, and does not cause any kind of rust on the steel or aluminium rims. As nitrogen inflated tyre does not heat up up, the life of the tyre is longer, braking is efficient and also helps in good fuel economy. By reducing oxygen and water vapour in your tyres from 22% to less than 7%, the tyres will maintain pressure three to four times longer as well as safer on the highway.

Highlights of Nitogen Tyres

• Reduced corrosion – there is no moisture in the pure nitogen therefore rusting does not happen.
• Slower rate of pressure loss – Due to its chemical structure, the molecules of nitrogen are larger than the oxygen and this means that it is slowere to leak out and helps to maintain the tyre prssure
• Eco-friendly in nature- Nitogen nitrogen is a colourless, odourless, tasteless and non toxic gas that forms about 78% of the earth's atmosphere and this inturn will support the 'green environment'.

Easy to Fill

Replacing air inflated tyres with nitrogent is a very simple process. First all the air is removed from the tyres. Ensure that it air is completely escaped and then simply fill your tyres( even tubeless tyres) with nitogen. Many garages are now offering nitrogen fills for tyres instead of conentional air filling. Unlike air filled tyres, you do not have to often refill air. The tyre pressure has to be checked in every six months and enjoy the smooth drive.

Primary Advantages of Nitrogen tyres

• Improved Fuel Efficiency – It is very important to have the accurate tyre pressure that is recommended by the car manufacturer. This inturn will not only improve the performance of the tyre but also the maximizes the fuel efficiency.
• Long Life – In the air inflated tyres, when the other material blend with oxygen it causes oxidization. Oxidisation ages the rubber which resulting in poor strength. In the air atyre, the temprature increases and there is high possibility of tyre blowout. Nitrogen inflated tyres inturn is cooler and lighter. It does not heats up and gives long life to the tyres. nitrogen can mean up to a 25% increase in tyre life and a 5% reduction in fuel consumption together with a reduction in CO2 emissions.
• Safety – Compared to the airfilled tyres Nitogen inflated tyres are much safer .90 percent of tyres are blown out with the underinflated tyres. Nitrogen helps to maintain accvurate tyre pressure reducing the chances of blowouts.

Nitrogen used by others

• NASCAR - National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing teams use nitrogen as it helps to predict the the tyre fluctuation accuretly. Though nitrogen fluctuates with temperature change, but it is comparitely lesser than when water vapor is present. Oxygen losses its explosive properties.
• Commercial Airlines – All the commercial aircraft tyres are nitogen inflated. This helps to eliminated potential for water vapou from freezing at high altitudes. Some of the aircraft manufacturers such as Boeing use nitrogen membranes in their On-Board Inert Gas Generation Systems (OBIGGS) to "top" fuel tanks with nitrogen.
• U.S. Government – NASA and the U.S. military utilize nitrogen for many of the same reasons aforesaid.
• Food Processors and Packagers – In order to preserve food for longer period processors and packagers often use modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) and controlled atmosphere packaging (CAP) where it replaces some or all of the oxygen in the air inside thepackage with nitrogen.

Be A Great Scuba Diver: Oxygen Management

2009-10-04T19:39:00.000-07:00

Hovering over a reef, camera in hand - You see that Juvenile Spotted Drumfish that you've been chasing for the last half hour. Finally, he has come out into the open and is parked in front of this spectacular purple sponge and bright orange anemone. Your frame is set; lighting is good. Your underwater model is cooperating. "BEEP BEEP BEEP", your computer is telling you that your entering a danger zone and at risk for oxygen toxicity. It says your "PO2 is 1.4". Not critical, but a good alert nonetheless. Glad it went off. Fortunately, the alert didn't scare away your Drumfish. You posture to take the picture. SNAP! Your strobes light up the reef, and your Drumfish heads back into the protective crevices of the Boulder Coral below. As you peer into the camera's view-screen, you think, this one is going on the wall on the office. A great shot! It's time to head back up to a safer depth and make your computer happy.

The air we breathe, both while walking on land or normally compressed into a Scuba tank, is comprised of two major gases and a small collection of trace gases. The most prevalent gas in our breathable air is Nitrogen which equals 79%. Oxygen, which is the gas that our life depends on, is a mere 20.9% of the gas we breathe. The .1% left over is made up of a bunch of trace gases, many of which, like Nitrogen, are inert and have little effect on us, normally, while walking on land. While this blend is harmonious and life-enabling, it all changes once you add pressure while Scuba diving.

Nitrogen - the evil gas!
From the first day you strap a Scuba tank to your back, you hear about Nitrogen Narcosis and Decompression sickness. In some cases, instructors scare you into memorizing the causes to reinforce the notion of managing your NITROGEN. Simply put, Nitrogen Narcosis is caused by the combination of depth and nitrogen absorption. When you reach a depth, usually below 100 feet, if your physiology isn't cooperating, you may get "Narced". An intoxicating feeling that may impair your judgment. The deeper you go, the more susceptible you become to Narcosis. At some depth, everyone gets Narced. Decompression Sickness is more severe and requires proper planning in order to avoid getting the "Bends". Decompression Sickness is not caused by depth, it is caused by loading Nitrogen into your body. The deeper you go, the faster you will load Nitrogen. At some point, you will load enough Nitrogen, where you will need to control the off-gassing prior to surfacing. These we call Decompression Stops. If you load enough Nitrogen and forego a Decompression Stop, it is highly likely you will get Bent. Even a mild case of the bends is painful and perhaps even life threatening. A severe case can, at best, cause permanent neurological damage and highly possible you could die from it.

Thus, from your first day, you are taught by your instructor to manage your nitrogen levels using a dive computer or a by using dive planning tables for "No Decompression Limits". In either case, you are planning your dive so that you are not needing Decompression Stops. Nitrogen management means you have planned your dive to not max out your Nitrogen loading. Additionally, you are taught the symptoms and cures, for you and your buddy, on how to combat, avoid and relieve Nitrogen Narcosis. By the end of your beginner Scuba Diver class, you are proficient in Nitrogen Management, staying away from getting Narced and planning your dives to stay away from even the mildest case of the Bends.

Oxygen - the good gas?
If Nitrogen is the bad gas and Oxygen is the life giving gas, then Oxygen is the good gas, right? Well, Oxygen is generally the good gas. You definitely need it to live. However, Oxygen epitomizes the saying, "too much of a good thing can be bad for you". In fact, there are times when too much Oxygen can be as deadly and hit your faster than Nitrogen. Oxygen is the good gas with some really bad character traits. However, we as a new Scuba diver, we never hear about these bad traits. In fact, until we start looking into Enriched Air or Technical Diving, we never even hear that Oxygen could be a bad thing. Oxygen has toxic characteristics when it has a high partial pressure. This is called CNS Oxygen Toxicity. Oxygen can also have toxic characteristics is you have prolonged exposure to high partial pressures. This is called Pulmonary Oxygen Toxicity. In either case, the effect is generally the same, getting a "Tox Hit" usually means that you will have a convulsion. In fact, in hospital wards, this happens fairly frequently. Most people have no problem surviving them. However, underwater a convulsion can be deadly. A convulsion generally leads to a diver's regulator falling out of their mouth, passing out and drowning.

Oxygen Toxicity and the New Diver
At this point, you have to be asking, why didn't I hear about the adverse effects of Oxygen in my Open Water or Beginner Scuba Diver certification class? Good question; and some agencies are changing that and making it a part of the beginner lesson plan. However, some agencies are not teaching it because they feel the depth at which Oxygen Toxicity, when diving on air, becomes an issue is way too deep for a new diver. And, if a new diver is that deep, they have more to be concerned about that Oxygen Toxicity. A fair argument since most new divers are using air (21% oxygen / 79% nitrogen) and the toxic depths of air is generally below 200 feet. However, this theory is flawed when dealing with the buddy system or diving off a boat with divers who may be using enriched air or Nitrox blends in excess of 21% oxygen. In this scenario, even with the non-nitrox diving buddy needs to be aware of the risks surrounding him in the water. A diver using a common blend of 32% Nitrox (32% Oxygen / 68% Nitrogen), can have a Tox Hit within the recreational limits of 130 feet. Now Oxygen Management is a concern for everyone diving with that buddy.

Enriched Air Versus Nitrox
We've been throwing a lot of terms at you. Nitrox, Air, Enriched Air, etc. Air is simply what you are breathing while surfing the Web reading this article. It is comprised, simply put, of 21% Oxygen and 79% Nitrogen. Nitrox is a "slang term" for any Nitrogen/Oxygen blend. This means, technically, air is a Nitrox blend. However, Nitrox has become a common replacement for Enriched Air. Enriched Air is any blend of Nitrogen and Oxygen exceeding 21% Oxygen in the mix. That means a Nitrox blend of 23% Oxygen and 77% Nitrogen is Nitrox.

Hypoxia and Hyperoxia and how it relates to Scuba Diving
The human body needs a specific amount of oxygen to survive. It can't be too little and it can't be too much. Hypoxia is a condition in which tissues are deprived of an adequate supply of Oxygen. On land, this usually occurs, in folks with normal physiology, when the Oxygen content in a breathing mix drops below 16%. People are considered Hypoxic when this happens.

Hyperoxia is a condition caused by an excess of oxygen in tissues and organs. On land, this usually occurs, in people with normal physiology when the oxygen content in a breathing mix is above 160% or have been breathing high O2 mixes (like pure O2) for an extended period of time. It is near impossible for someone to become Hyperoxic on land. Hyperoxia requires pressure to get the breathing mix to a comparable 160%. Of course, the Scuba environment is the perfect place to experience pressure.

On your first pool session, you felt the effects of pressure on your body from water. Probably in your ears. This pressure has a physiological effect that you don't necessarily feel. It is compounding the effects of Oxygen. In fact, at 33 feet (salt water), the effects of oxygen is doubled. As mentioned above, air is 21% Oxygen. However, physiologically at 33 feet, it has the same effect on your body as 42% oxygen. This effect is compounded the deep your go. At 99 feet, Air (21%) is four times more effective and comparable to 84% Oxygen (almost pure O2). Now you can see, with depth, how Hyperoxia can occur while Scuba diving. For "air" divers, Hyperoxia is less of a concern compared to Narcosis or Decompression Sickness. However, for "enriched air" divers, their high O2 blends can create high partial pressures which can easily lead to hyperoxia. Imagine someone with an Enriched Air Blend with 40% Oxygen and 60% Nitrogen. At 100 feet (salt water), that O2 content is equivalent to 160%. This diver is well within recreational limits and breathing a recreational "Nitrox" blend. You, as his buddy, may, not understanding the dangers, lead him to depths below 100feet. Now you understand the importance of Oxygen management.

What is all this Partial Pressure Stuff?
Partial Pressure is a term used in gas laws. Without getting into a physics lesson: in a gas mixture, each gas has a partial pressure which is equal to the fraction of gas represented in the mix multiplied by the pressure. Thus, in the examples above, Air has a 21% fraction of Oxygen. At sea level, or one atmosphere (as the air pressure is measured), it has a partial pressure of .21. Sometimes you will see this written as PPO2 = .21. In salt water, every 33 feet is equivalent to weight of an additional 1 atmosphere (34 feet for fresh water and you have to add 1 atmosphere for the air on top of the water). So at 33 feet, you have the equivalent weight of 2 atmospheres of pressure. 66 feet, is the equivalent of 3 atmospheres, 99 feet is the equivalent of 4 atmospheres and 132 feet is the equivalent of 5 atmospheres. Thus, in our example above, using air, at 33 feet, you would multiply the fractional gas of 21% times 2 atmospheres which would equal .42 (or 42%). That means, air is twice as effective at 2 atmospheres or 2 ATA (atmospheres absolute)

Using the 40% mix example above. Taking 40 percent to 3 ATA or 66 feet is equivalent to have 120% Oxygen or a partial pressure of 1.2. Another example is taking the most common blend of Enriched Air Available, 32% Nitrox and taking that to depth. At 33 feet, Enriched Air with 32% (usually written EAN32) has a partial pressure .64. Taking EAN32 to 4 ATA or 99 feet, means that it has a partial pressure of 1.28. Or if you take that same 32% blend to 5 atmospheres or 132 feet, you will have a partial pressure of 1.6 - which is equivalent to 160% Oxygen. As mentioned, previously you risk the chance of CNS Oxygen Toxicity when it reaches that level.

Optimal Partial Pressures While Scuba Diving
When Scuba diving, you always want to keep your Oxygen partial pressures between .16 (16%) and 1.6 (160%). If you fall below or go above this range you risk serious injury and death. Even on air, foolish people can exceed a partial pressure of 1.6. That is why we recommend an additional safety margin and tell our divers not to exceed a partial pressure blend 1.4. If you are planning a dive that will result in a 1.5 or 1.6 partial pressure mix, drop the O2 mix down a percentage point or two. As always, plan your dive (conservatively and within your limits) and dive your plan.

Because we are constantly dealing with pressure underwater, it is very possible that you could exceed a 1.6 partial pressure. However, it is very difficult to go below .16. While not exclusively, this usually occurs only in Trimix Diving. Oxygen management in Trimix Diving is a more complex discussion, although the fundamentals you learn in Nitrox Diving remain the same.

Bottom line, don't exceed a 1.4 partial pressure and stay safe!

Is that a freight train or barking dogs I hear?
As mentioned, the effect of Hyperoxia while diving is generally a convulsion. And while this can come on without warning, it has been reported that several precursors may reveal themselves prior to the convulsion. If you experience one of these precursors, you should end your dive immediately. Unlike Nitrogen Narcosis, going up a few feet will not dispel the oncoming convulsion. You are toxic! These precursor events to a Tox Hit include Visual Disturbances (like tunnel vision), Ear Ringing or strange sounds like a barking dog, Nausea, Muscle Twitching (usually in the face), Irritability, Dizziness. Note: a convulsion does not necessarily have to have a precursor symptom.

If at any time you do feel 100% fine, regardless of your Partial Pressure, you should surface - safely - without hesitation. No dive is worth being your last.

# 1 Rule in Enriched Air Diving and Oxygen Management
Obviously, the key to Oxygen Management is partial pressure awareness. Knowing your depth and knowing your gas blend are the critical components to partial pressure awareness. There is only one way to truly "know" your gas blend and that is to analyze it. If you are a Nitrox Diver, you should have an analyzer, be trained to use it and do so. Don't trust anyone on telling you what is the blend. Analyze it yourself. Thus, the number 1 rule in Enriched Air Diving is to always (and I mean always) analyze your own mix. Once you have that, you can calculate your partial pressures and know exactly what depth equals a 1.4 partial pressure with your blend. And, of course, you know your maximum operating depth at 1.6. Once you have done this, using masking or duct tape, write your name, mix and maximum operating depth on the tape and stick on your tank.

Final and Most Important Thoughts
To truly understand Enriched Air or Nitrox Diving, you need training! This article is only a quick overview on Oxygen Management and a quick introduction to Enriched Air Diving. Do not attempt, in any way, to use this article or any of the construed advice as training. Do not dive Enriched Air unless you are certified and qualified to do so. That means a certified Enriched Air Scuba Instructor has signed off that you are trained to dive Enriched Air. Scuba diving is a great sport, but dangerous if you do not dive within your training limits.

http://www.academyofscuba.com

Global Medical Book Announcing their Definition of Medical Tourism

2009-10-04T19:35:00.000-07:00

In today’s world, medical insurance and costs are very high priced for just about any type of medical procedure, check up, or doctors visit. Medical expenses are very high in the United States, on the flip side, the UK and Canada have universal medical coverage but all too frequently people and patients are exposed to substandard medical conditions in order to save a buck. So the next question would be where can I get some of the best medical care for a reasonable (astronomically lower) price?

Let’s think for a minute...

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As with anything worthwhile, medical tourism is becoming a high demand industry worldwide and competition is pretty interesting. What I mean by this is there are now medical tourism travel agencies, all inclusive medical travel packages and plans, medical vacations. These packages can offer everything from airfare to hotels, food to limousine service, all medical travel packages offering many lavish upgrades.

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