Tuesday, 15 February 2022

More Buzzwords: INSECTS, part #2


A continuation of the post from August 15, 2020 "Buzzwords: VERSES about INSECTS"



Learn more about DEET at Wikipedia.











Authors' Note: Adult dragonflies are carnivores who hunt on the wing, consuming daily up to a fifth of their body-weight in various flying insects, mosquitoes being one of their favorites. 

In the photo by GC, shot in the Muskoka region of Ontario, the insect temporarily has lighted (with wings typically spread) on a tiger lily, presumably to seek as prey the pollen-seeking insects attracted there. 




Authors' Note

cucaracha: Spanish for cockroach, presumably giving rise in the early 17th century to the English name for the insect

cockroach: adjectival form for the common insect (of thousands of species, only four are characterized as pests; cockroachlike might also be used in appropriate instances)   In the 1830s, Victorians adopted the shortened form roach to avoid the sexual connotations of the insect's name.















Authors' Note: 

bello, bella: Italian (male, female forms) for fine, handsome or beautiful

  The best-known name for this common North American insect derives from the larval form, the banded woolly bear. The caterpillar, with reddish-brown midsection and vertically demarcated black front and rear ends, is often seen in the autumn, appears playful to children, and is non-toxic. There is no easily appreciated visual difference between the genders for either larval or adult stages. Several small locales in the United States celebrate these cute caterpillars with fall 'woollybear' festivals.



Authors' Note: A million Emergency Room (ER) visits per year in the United States are caused by concern over stings from insects of the order Hymenoptera; stings can result in significant local reactions and even anaphylaxis. Many people attribute these incidents, without differentiation, to 'bees'. In fact, the common honeybees and bumblebees are considerably less aggressive than yellow jackets, such as Vespula maculifrons; these pesty wasps make us miserable in the summer and early fall, particularly at fairs and other outdoor events, by their relentless search for sugar-containing foods. Vespine is the adjective relating to wasps.






Armchair entomologists with a sense of adventure might wish to continue their  travels by proceeding to a later blogpost dealing with "A Selection of ECTO-PARASITES".   

DIRECTION FOR WEB-TRAVELLERS: 
To resume daily titillations on our related blog 'Daily Illustrated Nonsense', click HERE. Once you arrive, you can select your time frame of interest from the calendar-based listings in the righthand margin, and check the daily offerings for any month in the years 2020 to the present. (As of September 2023, there are over 1200 unique entries available on the Daily blog, and most of these are also presented here on 'Edifying Nonsense' in topic-based collections.) The 'Daily' format also has the advantage of including some videos and other material that are not shown here on this topic-based blog.

Thursday, 10 February 2022

PATIENTS and THEIR MALADIES, part #2

This post is a continuation of 'PATIENTS and their MALADIES, part #1', as posted on this blog February 10, 2020 (two years ago).


CURRENT CONTENTS:

Claudication
Diabetes insipidus
Dyspareunia
Eye discharge
Flu-like symptoms
Graves disease
Gynophobia
Heart block



Authors' Note:

claudicant: limping, lame

 Pain occurring in one or both legs with exercise in patients with blockages in their leg arteries is termed 'intermittent claudication', a condition particularly prevalent in longterm smokers. 

 Discarded cigarette butts, which may release toxins injurious to wildlife, have been identified by environmentalists as an ecological hazard. 



Authors' Note:  A deficiency of the pituitary hormone ADH (anti-diuretic hormone, also known as vasopressin), is the most common cause of a spontaneous development of polyuria due to diabetes insipidus. This disorder, characterized by passing of large volumes of urine, is partly compensated by increased thirst. A lack of sugar in the urine despite its large volume would exclude glycosuria due to diabetes mellitus. Radiographic tests done in this situation would definitely include evaluation of the skull base, as a tumour involving the posterior portion of the pituitary gland is a common cause.



Authors' NoteDyspareunia is the adjective that describes suffering from dyspareunia. That disorder, that may be either transitory or recurrent, is explained elsewhere; please consult as dictionary.




Authors' Note:

dacryocystorhinostomy: a surgical procedure used to relieve lacrimal obstruction (blocked tear drainage)

 DCR: abbreviation for above, used by surgical ophthalmologists, who usually perform the procedure








Authors' Note Graves' disease (often shortened by medical types to the ominous-sounding Graves' ), described by Robert Graves in 1835, is a common auto-immune disease that attacks the internal controls in the thyroid gland, and results in the overproduction of thyroid hormones. Significant symptoms result from hyperthyroidism, the hypermetabolic state that is produced.

Among several effective treatments, antithyroid drugs, taken over months or years, block production of these hormones, and often result in resumption of the euthyroid (normal) state.    











Requests from many health professionals, and layfolks as well, have come to fruition; there is now another followup post continuing this theme that you can easily access.  Click HERE for part #3 of 'Patients and their Maladies'



DIRECTION FOR WEB-TRAVELLERS: 
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Saturday, 5 February 2022

PALINKUs (poetic novelty) -- the fifth set, incredibly


A continuation, proudly displaying 10 more of our introductory group of poems .... 

 Go back to review the first ten 'palinku' poems by clicking HERE, the second set by clicking HERE, the third set HERE, and the fourth set HERE. And, be sure, if you need a brush-up on palindromes, to follow the links given with the first set for the didactic offering 'Political Palindromes'.





An additional point: Where do these palindromes come from?

The majority are in the 'classic repertoire' of this constrained but nonsensical form of writing. The authors are proud to report that they have apparently concocted at least some of the remainder. 





























 






In a post on our blog "Daily Illustrated Nonsense", you can find more information about the 'Exotic Destination': Paris (Ontario). Click HERE.



You can continue this incredible exploration of our new poetic form. Click HERE for more palinkus.

DIRECTION FOR WEB-TRAVELLERS: 
To resume daily titillations on our related blog 'Daily Illustrated Nonsense', click HERE. Once you arrive, you can select your time frame of interest from the calendar-based listings in the righthand margin, and check the daily offerings for any month in the years 2020 to the present. (As of September 2023, there are over 1200 unique entries available on the Daily blog, and most of these are also presented here on 'Edifying Nonsense' in topic-based collections.) The 'Daily' format also has the advantage of including some videos and other material that are not shown here on this topic-based blog.