Influenza viruses are negative-sense single stranded RNA viruses of the Orthomyxoviridae family.
There are four types of influenza viruses: A, B, C and D . In electron microscopy these types, especially A and B, could be virtually indistinguishable. D is more similar to C.
Most of these viruses look like small spheres with spikes, although some could be irregularly shaped. Spikes are proteins and they are what's different in different forms of influenza. Typically, influenza A starts the early wave of the flu, and influenza B starts to show up at the tail-end of the season, in early spring. This year is't flu B that started the first wave while flu A may be responsible for the second wave. Is the flu shot working? It's still too early to predict.Saturday, December 21, 2019
Wednesday, August 28, 2019
Saving the Pond
Reproduced from Aurametrix
There are several million ponds in United States (Renwick et al, 2006), and many are in need for preservation. This pond (35°33'51.7"N 84°13'38.5"W), part of Kahite hiking trail system in East Tennessee, attracts a variety of wildlife, with ecological benefits and habitat. It preserves community open space and property values.
The pond began to deteriorate as invasive submerged plants such as Hydrilla (notoriously difficult to eradicate without serious chemical herbicides) started growing under the surface of the water causing problems for aquatic life. The pond used to be naturally cleaned by a stream connecting to Tellico lake, but the stream got clogged up and the pond is in need of help.
Dying Pond |
Aerial view of the pond |
Beautifully maintained historic road |
Shortly after the 1819 Calhoun treaty that established Monroe county, an early settler John McGhee purchased the land. Over the years the property was owned by Peter Moser, Shakely Farma, Bob Starnea, Jogn Caraon and other families. In 1920s, the first documented house within the boundaries of modern Kahite neighborhood was built by Bert Anderson. The settlement along Mt. Zion Road within the boundaries of Kahite began with a tenant house built by the Robinsons. In the late 1940s, the land was acquired by the Williams family who built a house and a barn near the pond. They used the pond for agricultural purposes, as water sources for livestock.
In the 1960s the Tennessee Valley Authority began buying up the land for the creation of Tellico Reservoir. And so water spread over the valley and the lake was born. But a part of Mt. Zion road used by the early settlers was still there and so was the pond.
The Pond after the rain |
Pond in need of restoration |
Ponds provide enjoyment from offering a closeness to nature and increase the habitat available for our freshwater wildlife.
We do not inherit our ponds from previous generations, we borrow them from the future ones. We need to maintain them for their beauty, for their cultural significance, and protect next generations of human beings and other inhabitants of the Earth.
REFERENCES
Renwick WH, Sleezer RO, Buddemeier RW, Smith SV. Small artificial ponds in the United States: impacts on sedimentation and carbon budget. In Proceedings of the Eighth Federal Interagency Sedimentation Conference 2006 Apr 2 (No. 8th, pp. 738-44).
Gary Mulliner, 2010, History of Kahite, Iterpretive Exhibit.
Mooney J. Myths of the Cherokee. Courier Corporation; 2012 Mar 7.
Stager JC, Wiltse B, Hubeny JB, Yankowsky E, Nardelli D, Primack R. Climate variability and cultural eutrophication at Walden Pond (Massachusetts, USA) during the last 1800 years. PloS one. 2018 Apr 4;13(4):e0191755.
Genoa R. Warner, Yogesh Somasundar, Kyle C. Jansen, Evan Z. Kaaret, Cindy Weng, Abigail E. Burton, Matthew R. Mills, Longzhu Q. Shen, Alexander D. Ryabov, Gabrielle Pros, Tomislav Pintauer, Saborni Biswas, Michael P. Hendrich, Julia A. Taylor, Frederick S. Vom Saal, Terrence J. Collins. Bioinspired, Multidisciplinary, Iterative Catalyst Design Creates the Highest Performance Peroxidase Mimics and the Field of Sustainable Ultradilute Oxidation Catalysis (SUDOC). ACS Catalysis, 2019; 7023 DOI: 10.1021/acscatal.9b01409
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