Roger P. Freeman, D.D.S., Editor roger@iawareables.com
[Note: We mail this E-Borne newsletter 4x/year +/- to friends, colleagues and suspecting customers of record. If we have mistakenly included you in this mailing, or you wish to be removed from our subscriber list, please refer to end of the newsletter for instructions. We'll miss you, but we promise to honor your request.]
|
|
Dear friends and colleagues,
 We're exhausted. Hunting, gathering...hunting, gathering...when do we fathers get a break? As if h & g weren't enough, ...there's the remote, the DVR, the car wash, picture hanging, trash detail, spider whispering, crib assembly, bbq-ing, baseball glove oiling...precious little time left to get sloppy, kick back and enjoy the fruits of our labors. Blessedly, there's Father's Day, our fleeting glimpse at the easy life, a day for homage due...not to mention some presents (hopefully on someone else's credit card).
So it's time to get your Dad or Grad on, and celebrate appropriately with either a Porsche or - for your consideration - a stylish and timely IA necktie. While the choice is yours, we objectively lean towards the tie. Also highly recommended....copious hugs. A great day, to be savored like the smell of a new car.
Be sure to visit the splashy IA Showroom: A stylosplendant bird's eye view of the complete Awareables necktie and scarf collection, past and present.
|
|
Click to Join Our Mailing List
 We were smart alecky "early adapters" online, starting the iAwareables website in 1999. Humbly catching up now to 21st century, so stay in touch!
"Like" us now on Facebook! |
|
|
1. DADS ARE MELLOW
| A work in progress, anyway...
A study published just this week by Duke University researchers concluded that our closest living animal relatives, the chimpanzee, get very testy when things don't go quite their way. Not that there's any correlation to us hunters, but a long wait for a meal resulted in the chimps throwing what is described as "epic" tantrums, including moans, screams, body-scratching and hand-banging.
We certified hunters rarely hand-bang, and on the other hand, have learned to "regulate our emotions when faced with delays or disappointment." Apparently, it's all part of the evolutionary process, which we're working on, and really do hope to complete sometime in our lifetime. In fact, we like to think of "pouting" is a major step forward.
As if...
|
2. AWAREABLES COLLECTION: "F" THROUGH "H"
| "Start the Conversation"
And give generously. You never know....there's the slim chance your Dad, Grad, Hub, BFF, SigO and/or other deserving tribal chieftan could put you in the will.
|
3.FALLEN FOOD: AN AGE OLD DILEMMA
|
Genghis Kahn Gave It 12 Hours. You?
If you're like most of us, your internal disgust-o-meter allows some sort of subjective "drop time" between when you oops that little snack on the floor, and when you will still dare to ingest. For whatever illogical reason, your common sense tells you 5 seconds is OK, 15 seconds, maybe not. It turns out that your common sense could be right. Two studies have shown that while bacteria can inoculate the dropee immediately, and that e. coli does not reward you for speed, they also show that not all surfaces are equal, nor are all food stuffs. In fact, some combinations of stuffs and time show a higher risk of contamination with dangerous pathogens than others. So what does the cautious - but practical (lazy?) - person do? Bottom line: drop a little benign nibble on a clean floor or surface, life will likely go on without cramps. Drop some salami (or in Genghis' case, some pillaged pork) next to the litter box...you may shortly be embracing the porcelain. Good to know...while it's always best to use the "zero-tolerance" approach, especially if immuno-compromised, common sense does sometimes allow us some wiggle room.
|
| 4. SIGNALING A STINKER | Food Spoilage Alert Gene
Going deeper into our food paranoia, we noted the creation of a prototype sticker that can actually signal when a food product has gone south. A student project in 2012 developed a sticker, called the Food Warden, on which bacteria are engineered to activate a pigment-producing gene which lights up the label when spoilage by-products are sensed.
Yes, it does contain genetically modified organisms, but really..., it's time to get over that. And it does sound like a much better approach than the brain exploding "eat, open, use, discard, trample by June 12" disclaimers on everything from yogurt to gummy bears. |
5. MERS: AN EMERGING THREAT?
|
A SARS Relative Bears Watching
Keep an eye on the newsabout this new respiratory pathogen - deadly and potentially more dangerous than SARS. First seen in Middle East, MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) has traveled to France, and now to Italy. WHO officials are watching carefully for mutations and transmission, remembering well the SARS 30 country infection tour.
|
6. HEALTHCARE-ASSOCIATED INFECTIONS
| |
Fast Facts, a Serious Problem
HAI's account for an estimated 1.7 million U.S. infections every year. 99,000 deaths result from these infections, more than from breast cancer and prostate cancer combined. Watch for our Fall newsletter, where we explore this timely and explosive issue in more depth. In the meantime, be vigilant in your health care facility, and don't be timid in reminding staff of the concerns.
|
7. IN MEMORIAM: HEINRICH ROHRER 1933 - 2013
| |
The Father of Nanotechnology
The introduction of the electron microscope in the 1930's revolutionized biology by providing scientists with a glimpse of the inner workings of a cell. In 1979, physicist Heinrich Rohrer, with his partner Gerd Binnig of the IBM Research Lab in Zurich, took that miracle to another level, patenting a device that could actually move atoms around on a surface. Known as a scanning tunneling microscope, the discovery paved the way towards a whole new world of information technology, the fruits of which we continue to enjoy and marvel at, today.
Along with his partners, Heinrich Rohrer received the 1986 Nobel Prize in physics, and his legacy continues to unravel mysteries once thought to be impossible to explore.
|
|
|
|
 Surf's up, summer's upon us, so crank up the SFP to 45, i.e. stay pale, load the boards in the Woodie, and head to Malibu - where a new "app" can now navigate you to public beaches painstakingly kept secret by the beautiful people.
Lastly, consider William Shakespeare's reflection on the season: "Summer's lease hath all too short a date." Let us know when you figure out what that means.
Until Fall falls,
Awareably yours,
RPF
Roger P. Freeman, D.D.S. and the IA Team
Copyright 2013 Infectious Awareables, Inc.
***Please feel free to pass this Ezine along to your friends. All we ask is that you keep it intact and forward it in its entirety.
NOTICE: To subscribe to the IA newsletter: www.iawareables.com
Email: roger@iawareables.com
Phone: 818.990.6264
Web: www.iawareables.com
|
|
|
