Friday, 20 November 2020

TOURISTS' PALINDROMIC GUIDE: The Americas #4


Preview of this fall's offerings. Target date: November 10.
This post is a continuation of...
 Tourists' Palindromic Guide: The Americas #1
 Tourists' Palindromic Guide: The Americas #2
 Tourists' Palindromic Guide: The Americas #3


SATIRE COMPOSED: Giorgio Coniglio (registered pseudonym) and Dr. GH, 2018. 

WORDPLAY LINK: Panels showing palindromic phrases derived from geography of the Americas were originally displayed on Wordplay posts on this blog during the interval from 2018 to February 2019; the current examples have been developed since that time. Geographically focused concoctions are among the many palindromic treasures honored and displayed on this site. Check out the list of entries for "The Palindrome Suite". 

SONGLINK:  Some readers will be delighted (others will continue to groan) at our collection of songs based on palindromic phrases -- click the link to the initial blogpost in this series to make these links available as well.












Still want more palindromic fun? Click HERE for 'concluding remarks' about New-World and Old-World palindromes.




GENERAL DIRECTIONS FOR WEB-EXPLORERS: 
To resume the sequence of 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 at the bottom of the page, and check the daily offerings for any month from the start of 2020 until December 2024. 
As of December 2024, there are 1800 unique entries available on the daily blog, displaying individual poems (often illustrated) and wordplay, but also with some photo-collages and parody song-lyrics. Most of their key elements are also presented here on "Edifying Nonsense" in topic-based collections, such as this one. The "Daily" format also has the advantage of including some song-lyrics, videos and other material that are not shown here on this topic-based blog.



Tuesday, 10 November 2020

NOV 10 (2020): Verse for HOLIDAYS and CELEBRATIONS


























Authors' Note:  Poinsettia is now the common name by which this seasonal plant is known around the world.

  Joel Poinsett, South Carolinian physician and amateur botanist, served as the first US ambassador (a position designated as minister) to Mexico. In the 1820s, he sent home to his greenhouses samples of Euphorbia pulcherrima (member of the spurge family), locally known as flor de nochebuena (Christmas Eve), linked to the Hispanic nativity celebration. 
  Distribution of the poinsettia in the US was enhanced by development of cultivars with a more lush profusion of the colored bracts, and recently, by variants in other appealing colors. Today, a single nursery in Texas accounts for 70% of American sales, and half of all global sales of this decorative seasonal specialty.
  Incidentally, although the plant is assumed by many to be toxic, that possibility appears based on an incorrect original report, unsupported by other evidence.






 

(Note that the five verses of this "brief saga" can be found in more readily legible format on the blog "Daily Illustrated Nonsense"; click HERE.) 


GENERAL DIRECTIONS FOR WEB-EXPLORERS: 
To resume your review of the sequence of 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 at the bottom of the page, and check the daily offerings for any month from the start of 2020 until July 2025. 
As of July 20, 2025, there are 2,000 unique entries available on the daily blog, displaying individual poems (often illustrated) and wordplay, but also with some photo-collages and parody song-lyrics. 
Most of the key elements, such as this one, are also assembled here on "Edifying Nonsense" in topic-based collections.
The "Daily" format, a formidable mix of genres, also has the advantage of including song-lyrics, videos and other material that are not shown here on this topic-based blog.

Thursday, 5 November 2020

NOV 5 (2020): BASIC MEDICAL SCIENCE -- assortment #1 [6]

 

CURRENT CONTENTS: (#1 -- November 5, 2020)
Autophagia
Gamma rays
Haversian canals
Helicobacter pylori
Hippocampus
Homeostasis




Authors' Note:

 -some (SOHM, sometimes ZOHM): Greek suffix for an 
intracellular body, or organelle, e.g. chromosome or lysosome
-phagia, or -phagy: Greek suffix for eating, or consumption
lysis: term of Greek origin for destruction or disintegration
lysosome: cellular organelle adapted to the destruction of extracellular material which has been internalized
autophagosome: membranous organelle that entraps targeted intracellular components, later merging with lysosomes for degradation and recycling of these components; their role in cell defence and in disease causation is under investigation

 And, HERE's a verse about autophagia explaining use of the term to describe a rare and gruesome phenomenon. 




Authors' Note:   In measuring ionizing radiation such as gamma rays with an instrument such as a  dosimeter, terms such as exposure-rate, flux, and fluence relate to the strength of the source. With regard to possible harm to humans and other biologic creatures, the absorbed dose is more important. The many different units involved in scientific descriptions may, in fact, detract from comprehension by non-experts. A simple rule of thumb, adopted by most professional societies, is to keep exposure "as low as reasonably achievable", as summarized in the acronymic slogan ALARA.






Authors' Note: The discovery in 1982 of the gastrointestinal bacterium Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) as an organism causing disease in a definite minority of patients who harbour it has revolutionized major areas of gastro-enterology (the study of gastro-intestinal disease). The involved illnesses include gastritis, gastric ulcers, gastric cancer, and several other tumours. Simple treatment (including oral antibiotics) for the common manifestations is often curative, and a vaccine to prevent the malignant consequences is being sought.

Research into gut bacteria may soon bring rewards in our understanding of diseases that cause disruption in various body systems, including chronic neurological ailments.









Authors' Note: For physiologists and physicians, the understanding of homeostatic mechanisms such as feedback loops, and how they get overwhelmed in disease, is critical. An example discussed here previously is regulation of thyroid hormone levels. Knowledge in this area has also expanded into the field of IT.


coming up: (#2 -- November 5, 2021)
Horseshoe kidney (congenital malformation)
Motor homunculi
Visual cortex
Hemi-anopsia (poetic half-insights) (3 stanzas, a 'brief saga')
Radiation exposure (4 stanzas, a 'brief saga')
















GENERAL DIRECTIONS FOR WEB-EXPLORERS: 
To resume the sequence of 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 at the bottom of the page, and check the daily offerings for any month from the start of 2020 until December 2024. 

As of December 2024, there are 1800 unique entries available on the daily blog, displaying individual poems (often illustrated) and wordplay, but also with some photo-collages and parody song-lyrics. Most of their key elements are also presented here on "Edifying Nonsense" in topic-based collections, such as this one. The "Daily" format also has the advantage of including some song-lyrics, videos and other material that are not shown here on this topic-based blog.