Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a bacterium responsible for several difficult-to-treat infections in humans. It is also called oxacillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (ORSA). MRSA is any strain of Staphylococcus aureus that has developed, through the process of natural selection, resistance to beta-lactam antibiotics, which include the penicillins (methicillin, dicloxacillin, nafcillin, oxacillin, etc.) and the cephalosporins. Strains unable to resist these antibiotics are classified as methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus, or MSSA. The evolution of such resistance does not cause the organism to be more intrinsically virulent than strains of Staphylococcus aureus that have no antibiotic resistance, but resistance does make MRSA infection more difficult to treat with standard types of antibiotics and thus more dangerous. Signs and symptoms[edit] In most patients, MRSA can be detected by swabbing the nostrils and isolating the bacteria found inside.
Voynich manuscript The Voynich manuscript is an illustrated codex hand-written in an unknown writing system. The vellum on which it is written has been carbon-dated to the early 15th century (1404–1438), and may have been composed in Northern Italy during the Italian Renaissance.[1][2] The manuscript is named after Wilfrid Voynich, a Polish book dealer who purchased it in 1912.[3] Some of the pages are missing, but about 240 remain. The Voynich manuscript has been studied by many professional and amateur cryptographers, including American and British codebreakers from both World War I and World War II.[4] No one has yet succeeded in deciphering the text, and it has become a famous case in the history of cryptography. The Voynich manuscript was donated by Hans P. Description[edit] Codicology[edit] The manuscript measures 23.5 by 16.2 by 5 centimetres (9.3 by 6.4 by 2.0 in), with hundreds of vellum pages collected into eighteen quires. Text[edit] A page showing characteristics of the text Illustrations[edit]
Tanganyika laughter epidemic The Tanganyika laughter epidemic of 1962 was an outbreak of mass hysteria – or mass psychogenic illness (MPI) – rumored to have occurred in or near the village of Kashasha on the western coast of Lake Victoria in the modern nation of Tanzania (formerly Tanganyika) near the border of Kenya.[1] The laughter epidemic began on January 30, 1962, at a mission-run boarding school for girls in Kashasha. The laughter started with three girls and spread haphazardly throughout the school, affecting 95 of the 159 pupils, aged 12–18.[2][3] Symptoms lasted from a few hours to 16 days in those affected. After the school was closed and the students were sent home, the epidemic spread to Nshamba, a village that was home to several of the girls.[4] In April and May, 217 people had laughing attacks in the village, most of them being school children and young adults. The school from which the epidemic sprang was sued; the children and parents transmitted it to the surrounding area. See also[edit]
Phaistos Disc The Phaistos Disc (also spelled Phaistos Disk, Phaestos Disc) is a disk of fired clay from the Minoan palace of Phaistos on the Greek island of Crete, possibly dating to the middle or late Minoan Bronze Age (2nd millennium BC). It is about 15 cm (5.9 in) in diameter and covered on both sides with a spiral of stamped symbols. Its purpose and meaning, and even its original geographical place of manufacture, remain disputed, making it one of the most famous mysteries of archaeology. This unique object is now on display at the archaeological museum of Heraklion. The disc was discovered in 1908 by the Italian archaeologist Luigi Pernier in the Minoan palace-site of Phaistos, and features 241 tokens, comprising 45 unique signs, which were apparently made by pressing hieroglyphic "seals" into a disc of soft clay, in a clockwise sequence spiraling toward the disc's center. Discovery Tablet PH-1 It was found in the main cell of an underground "temple depository". Authenticity Dating Typography Signs
Charles Bonnet syndrome Charles Bonnet syndrome (CBS) is the experience of complex visual hallucinations in patients with visual loss. First described by Charles Bonnet in 1760,[1][2] it was first introduced into English-speaking psychiatry in 1982.[3] Characteristics[edit] Sufferers, who are mentally healthy people with often significant visual loss, have vivid, complex recurrent visual hallucinations (fictive visual percepts). People suffering from CBS may experience a wide variety of hallucinations. Causes[edit] CBS predominantly affects people with visual impairments due to old age or damage to the eyes or optic pathways. Prognosis[edit] There is no treatment of proven effectiveness for CBS. Treatment[edit] Because there is no prescribed treatment, the physician will consider on a case by case basis whether to treat any depression or other problems that may be related to CBS. History[edit] The disease is named after the Swiss naturalist Charles Bonnet, who described the condition in 1760. See also[edit]
Allagash Abductions The Allagash Abduction is a purported UFO sighting and alien abduction that is alleged to have occurred in 1976. The UFO incidents[edit] The witnesses said the incident started on August 20, 1976, when four men, all in their early-twenties, ventured on a camping trip into the wilderness near Allagash, Maine.[1] The group consisted of twin brothers Jack and Jim Weiner, their friend Charlie Foltz, and their guide, Chuck Rak. They say their first day went by without incident. However, on their second night, they noticed a bright light not far from their campsite which they first passed off as being a helicopter or weather balloon, but later noticed it displayed a strange quality of light. After a short time, Rak noticed the bright light they had seen two nights before in the distance above the tree line. Suddenly, a bright beam of light shot out from the bottom of the craft and it quickly made its way towards the men. The next thing the men knew, they were back on shore at their campsite.
Alien hand syndrome Alien hand syndrome (AHS), is a rare neurological disorder that causes hand movement without the person being aware of what is happening or having control over the action. The afflicted person may sometimes reach for objects and manipulate them without wanting to do so, even to the point of having to use the healthy hand to restrain the alien hand.[1] Alien hand syndrome is best documented in cases where a person has had the two hemispheres of their brain surgically separated, a procedure sometimes used to relieve the symptoms of extreme cases of epilepsy. It also occurs in some cases after brain surgery, stroke, infection, tumor, aneurysm and specific degenerative brain conditions such as Alzheimer's disease and Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease.[2] Other areas of the brain that are associated with alien hand syndrome are the frontal, occipital and parietal lobes.[3][4] Anarchic hand syndrome and alien hand syndrome are two similar but separate disorders. Symptoms[edit] Subtypes[edit]
Mount Roraima Mount Roraima (Spanish: Monte Roraima [ˈmonte roˈɾaima], also known as Tepuy Roraima and Cerro Roraima; Portuguese: Monte Roraima [ˈmõtʃi ʁoˈɾɐ̃jmɐ]) is the highest of the Pakaraima chain of tepui plateau in South America.[4]:156 First described by the English explorer Sir Walter Raleigh in 1596, its 31 km2 summit area[4]:156 consists on all sides of cliffs rising 400 metres (1,300 ft). The mountain also serves as the triple border point of Venezuela, Brazil and Guyana.[4]:156 Mount Roraima lies on the Guiana Shield in the southeastern corner of Venezuela's 30,000 square kilometres (12,000 sq mi) Canaima National Park forming the highest peak of Guyana's Highland Range. The highest point in Guyana and the highest point of the Brazilian state of Roraima lie on the plateau, but Venezuela and Brazil have higher mountains elsewhere. WikiMiniAtlas Flora and fauna[edit] Vegetation on Mount Roraima There are many examples of unique fauna atop Mount Roraima. Culture[edit] Ascents[edit]
Seeing in the Dark Credit: cliff1066tm. Patient TN was, by his own account, completely blind. Two consecutive strokes had destroyed the visual cortex of his brain, and consequently, his ability to see. It is not uncommon for stroke patients to suffer brain damage, but the case of TN — referenced by his initials, the general practice in such studies — was peculiar. Known as selective bilateral occipital damage, TN’s unusual injury made him the subject of much interest while recovering at a hospital in Geneva. To further test the extent of TN’s abilities, researchers from Tilburg University in the Netherlands devised a simple yet decisive experiment: an obstacle course. TN’s rare condition is known as blindsight. The researchers explained that TN’s success indicates that “humans can sustain sophisticated visuo-spacial skills in the absence of perceptual awareness.”
Pallas's cat Pallas's cat (Otocolobus manul), also called the manul, is a small wild cat having a broad but patchy distribution in the grasslands and montane steppe of Central Asia. The species is negatively affected by habitat degradation, prey base decline, and hunting, and has therefore been classified as Near Threatened by IUCN since 2002.[2] Pallas’s cat was named after the German naturalist Peter Simon Pallas, who first described the species in 1776 under the binomial Felis manul.[3] Characteristics[edit] The ears are set low and wide apart Pallas's cat is about the size of a domestic cat, its body is 46 to 65 cm (18 to 26 in) long and its tail is 21 to 31 cm (8.3 to 12.2 in) long. Distribution and habitat[edit] Pallas's cats are native to the steppe regions of Central Asia, where they inhabit elevations of up to 5,050 m (16,570 ft) in the Tibetan Plateau.[5] They inhabit Mongolia, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kashmir, and occur across much of western China. Reproduction[edit]