The ‘Wildlife diaries’ in Sri Lanka

A dream that was 15 years in the making materialized for Rajiv Welikala past week. The ‘Wildlife diaries’, his maiden exhibition, comprises the essence of his photographs from expeditions in the wild.“Growing up, I have always been a nature enthusiast, but it was only when I joined the Wildlife Society at my Alma Mater St. Thomas College when I was 11 years old, that I gave this interest some life,” he said. “This society takes part in quarterly camping excursions to wilderness locations, and this start prompted me to ask my father for a basic point and shoot film camera to take. Using the most basic equipment, which in most cases were broken or not working properly, I learnt to capture some beautiful moments,” he recalled.

 

Over the years and through the wilderness of the many parks and rain forests he treaded, Rajiv honed his skills in photography mostly through trial and error. “First and foremost I am an ardent wildlife enthusiast who is passionate about conservation of our wildlife and wilderness habitats. Photography comes as a second. In fact photography is merely a tool to create awareness on our endangered habitats and wildlife that you won’t see every day,” he affirmed.

Rajiv is an executive in the apparel sector. “I would say this is my priority because if we don’t conserve wildlife and their habitats we won’t have anything to photograph. I am involved in a few community projects regarding the human elephant conflict. I try to do my part with the limited time and resources I have to make a difference,” he said. 

List of Names for Dogs

Training Tips for German Shepherd Puppies

1. Play with your puppy: You will want a puppy that is good-natured and not afraid. You absolutely cannot start training a German shepherd with fear or instructions. This will be just begging for disaster. Give him time to understand and adapt the new surroundings.

All German shepherd dogs are trainable and they are very powerful and strong animals. If you initiate with a puppy, you have the chance to mold and shape its personality and develop that trusting relationship. Some training tips to follow with a German Shepherd Puppy:-

2. One master for your dog: Only one person only should give the commands and instruction, in spite of how many people are in your family or will be living with the dog. German Shepherds in particular, will recognize one master and will respond to that one person.

3. Feed your dog before training: German shepherd Dogs respond to foodstuff as a reward before the training as well as after the training. If you instruct a dog to sit and reward him with a treat, he will learn it, however, you will need to emphasize this many times. These Dogs appear to memorize and counter better to training after he has been given food.

4. Spend no more than 20 minutes per training session: Younger pups attention extent is short; they get tired soon; your tolerance will give up trying to train an over exhausted puppy. Training has to be positive and joyful in order to get the utmost response from the dog.

Dog Eating Like a Person

Whey Protien

What is Whey?

Whey is a byproduct of cheese production. It is that pseudo-clear liquid remaining after milk has been curdled and strained that used to be tossed aside as waste material.

It has an impressive array of proteins:

• Beta-lactoglobulin
• Alpha-lactalbumin
• Serum albumin

These are complete proteins, comprised of the essential amino acids central to protein synthesis and increased muscular hypertrophy. Our bodies can produce non-essential amino acids from lesser amino acids, but we cannot produce the essentials ourselves; we must consume quality protein sources. Whey is a naturally occurring, essential protein that satisfies the body’s protein requirements.  

Composition and forms of whey protein

Whey protein is an approximate mixture of the following:

 

• Protein shake
• Whey protein milkshake
• 65 percent beta-lactoglobulin
• 25 percent alpha-lactalbumin
• 8 percent bovine serum albumin
• Immunoglobins
• There are three primary types of whey protein:
• Whey protein concentrate (WPC)
• Whey protein isolate (WPI)
• Whey protein hydrolysate (WPH)

 Whey protein concentrate- WPC contains low levels of fat and high levels of carbohydrates (lactose) and bioactive compounds.

The percentage of protein in WPC depends on how concentrated it is. Lower end concentrates tend to have 30% protein and higher end up to 90%.

Whey protein isolate - WPIs are further processed to remove all the fat and lactose. As a result, WPI has a high percent of protein by weight, generally over 90 percent.

Whey protein hydrolysate - WPH is considered to be the "predigested" form of whey protein as it is already undergone partial hydrolysis - a process necessary for the body to absorb protein.

As a result WPH doesn't require as much digestion as the other two forms of whey protein. In addition, WPH substantially increases insulin, providing more power for your muscles.

Muscle building with whey protein

Whey protein supplementation significantly improves muscle protein synthesis and promotes the growth of lean tissue mass. Whey protein supplementation during resistance training offers some benefit compared to resistance training alone. Much better gains in strength are associated with whey isolate supplementation compared to casein.

Whey protein contains all of the essential amino acids and also serves as a possible alternative to milk for people who are lactose intolerant.

In addition to being used as an alternative to milk and as a popular dietary supplement to improve strength.

 

Health benefits of whey protein

There are many benefits associated with the consumption of whey protein, and researchers are constantly finding new possible therapeutic properties. Whey protein is believed to have a range of therapeutic properties that could help treat, as well as reduce the risk of certain diseases.

Research has found that whey protein has anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory properties, and could possibly act as an effective supplementary treatment for diabetes and heart disease. It has also been found to help decrease weight loss among people suffering from HIV (AIDS).

The possible health benefits of consuming whey protein include:

Losing weight - People who took a specialized whey fraction lost significantly more body fat and showed a greater preservation of lean muscle compared to subjects consuming the control beverage.

Anti-cancer properties - The use of whey protein concentrate and glutathione modulation in cancer treatment have promising results.

High cholesterol - A significant decrease in total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol at week 12 in the whey group compared with the casein.

Asthma - whey protein could improve immune response in children with asthma.

Lowering blood pressure and reducing risk of cardiovascular disease - Beverages that were supplemented with whey protein significantly reduced elevated blood pressure, and reduced the risk of stroke and heart disease.

Side effects

Some people who are allergic to milk may be specifically allergic to whey. If anybody is allergic to milk, there is a possibility to be allergic for whey protein. In moderate doses of whey protein doesn't generally cause any adverse events.

Consuming severely high doses can cause:

• Stomach pains
• Cramps
• Reduced appetite
• Nausea
• Headache
• Fatigue

How is whey protein produced?

When milk is left over and coagulates, it eventually turns into a 5% solution of lactose in water, loaded with minerals.

This left over by-product, called whey, makes up 20% of the protein in milk; the other 80% is called casein.

The liquid whey is separated from the casein and sent through filters to remove all non-whey ingredients. It is then purified in a process called "ion exchange".

The final step is removing the water from the whey by turning it into a powder at a drying tower. The protein powder is then ready to be packaged and consumed.

Research makes way for preventive medicine for cat allergy

Scientists have discovered how allergic reactions to cats are triggered, raising hopes of preventative medicine. A University of Cambridge team has identified how the body's immune system detects cat allergen, leading to symptoms such as coughing and sneezing.

New treatments to block this pathway raise hopes of developing medicines to protect sufferers, they say. Allergy UK says the research is "a big step forward" in understanding how cat allergen causes allergic reactions.

Researchers led by Dr Clare Bryant of the University of Cambridge studied proteins found in particles of cat skin, known as cat dander, which is the most common cause of cat allergy.

They found that cat allergen activates a specific pathway in the body, once in the presence of a common bacterial toxin.

This triggers a large immune response in allergy sufferers, causing symptoms such as coughing, wheezing, sneezing and a runny nose.

Recreating Rover: Cloning Pets

So you’re living in the UK and dream of giving your dog’s genes a chance to live on in a cloned body? One South Korean firm is willing to offer a 70 per cent discount if you pose for the cameras and are not expecting them to copy the personality too.

The firm, Sooam Biotech, has been commercially cloning pets for years, with the majority of its customers coming from the US. The task is currently priced at $100,000, but the winner will receive a considerable slash from that tag. Contenders are encouraged to send a 500-word essay along with photos, videos of up to 5 minutes, and other material explaining why their dog should be cloned.

There are no restrictions on the breed, sex, size or age of the dog, but the winner must be prepared for the media appearances that would come into his or her life, along with the furry clone. Submissions are accepted until July 1.

The cloning technology itself is following the well-established routine. Sooam researchers will extract DNA from a viable skin cell taken from the dog and implant it into another dog’s egg cell, which had been cleared of DNA beforehand. The resulting embryo will then be implanted into a surrogate mother, which will give birth to a cloned puppy some two months later.

The South Korean firm is headed by controversial researcher Hwang Woo-suk, who rose to notoriety after falsifying research data in his 2004 study of human embryotic stem cells. Sooam was among the pioneers of dog cloning and also successfully cloned other canines, such as wolves and coyotes. Last year it announced its plans to recreate a woolly mammoth by extracting the extinct animal’s DNA from frozen samples and incubating an embryo in an elephant surrogate mother.

Pet cloning remains an ethically-controversial and niche business. Critics say that rich people who spend thousands of dollars on cloning their pets should instead help animal shelters and adopt a new pet from one of those. There is also the implication that cloning firms are misleading their clients, because the technology can offer replication of the body, while the behavior of the cloned pet may differ markedly from that of the original.

"I think that personality is really what most people are looking to clone," John Woestendiek, a dog cloning investigator and author, told Live Science. "And I don't think personality is clone-able."

Pet cloning may enjoy high media attention, but the market for it is surprisingly small, according to BioArts International, a US-based company that outsourced pet cloning to Sooam Biotech before going out of business in 2009.

Just like Sooam in UK, BioArts promoted its services in America with a 2008 competition offering free cloning. It received 237 applications, the firm said, eventually awarding the privilege to a rescue dog which had reportedly found the last survivor of the 2001 terrorist attack in New York.

Body Condition Score Charts of Dogs and Cats

COW-Lifornia Girls

The Food Animal and Reproduction Medicine (FARM) Club at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine recently won a new, handheld digital ultrasound machine in a national competition among veterinary medicine university organizations. After initial entries of photos and an essay — which were judged on knowledge, creativity, and desire for the machine — the contestant list was narrowed to the top eight universities. Those eight then had to create a short video which would be voted on by the public.

The FARM Club’s “COW-lifornia Girls” (spoofing the popular “California Girls” by Katy Perry) proved to be the most popular video. After a widespread marketing campaign, the FARM Club’s video garnered more than 2,000 votes out of a total of 8,000 for all eight videos. Being the only entry from the state of California, the FARM Club reached out for promotional help to a wide network of closely connected organizations that were eager to support a California cause, including the California Beef Council, the California Veterinary Medical Association, California 4-H, CBS13 Sacramento Evening News and Good Day Sacramento.

The ultrasound machine will provide an invaluable experience to FARM Club members, and other students, for years to come. It will allow UC Davis veterinary students early exposure to ultrasonography and become proficient with ultrasound technology before the clinical portion of their studies begins.

The UC Davis FARM Club provides extracurricular learning and networking opportunities for students interested in production medicine. The club promotes the belief of providing the utmost care for animals, while working to ensure a healthy, wholesome and safe food supply to benefit consumers. The FARM Club teaches students about the unique responsibility veterinarians have to bring sound scientific evidence to future clients and to educate the consuming public about the food they eat. This mission begins in veterinary school and continues throughout a career as a food animal practitioner.

10 Canine Commandments