MAMMOTH GENTLE GIANT

A mammoth is any species of the extinct genus Mammuthus. These proboscideans (elephants or their extinct relatives) were often equipped with long curved tusks and, in northern species, a covering of long hair. They lived from the Pliocene epoch from 4.8 million years ago to around 4,500 years ago. The word mammoth comes from the Russian мамонт mamont, probably in turn from the Vogul (Mansi) language.

Mammoth remains have been found in Europe, Africa, Asia, and North America. They are believed to have originally evolved in North Africa about 4.8 million years ago, during the Pliocene epoch, where bones of Mammuthus africanavus have been found in Chad, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia. Mammuthus subplanifrons, found in South Africa and Kenya, is also believed to be one of the oldest species (about 4 million years ago).

Despite their African ancestry, they are in fact more closely related to the modern Asian Elephant than either of the two African elephants (as both Mammuthus and Elephas also originated in Africa). The common ancestor of both mammoths and Asian elephants split from the line of African elephants in the Late Miocene about 6 - 7.3 million years ago, probably due to the uplift of East Africa and increasing aridity in the Middle East. The Asian elephants and mammoths diverged about half a million years later, i.e. 5.5 - 6.3 million years ago.(Capelli et al. 2006)

In due course the African mammoth migrated north to Europe and gave rise to a new species, the southern mammoth (Mammuthus meridionalis). This eventually spread across Europe and Asia and crossed the now-submerged Bering Land Bridge into North America.

Around 700,000 years ago, the warm climate of the time deteriorated markedly and the savannah plains of Europe, Asia and North America gave way to colder and less fertile steppes. The southern mammoth consequently declined, being replaced across most of its territory by the cold-adapted steppe mammoth (Mammuthus trogontherii). This in turn gave rise to the woolly mammoth, Mammuthus primigenius) around 300,000 years ago. Woolly mammoths were better able to cope with the extreme cold of the Ice Ages.

The woolly mammoths were a spectacularly successful species; they ranged from Spain to North America and are thought to have existed in massive numbers. The Russian researcher Sergei Zimov estimates that during the last Ice Age, parts of Siberia may have had an average population density of sixty animals per hundred square kilometres - equivalent to African elephants today.

Most mammoths died out at the end of the last Ice Age. A definitive explanation for their mass extinction is yet to be agreed upon. A small population survived on St. Paul Island, Alaska, up until 6000 BCE, and the small mammoths of Wrangel Island became extinct only around 2000 BCE. Whether the general mammoth population died out for climatic reasons or due to overhunting by humans is controversial. Another theory suggests that mammoths may have fallen victim to an infectious disease. A combination of climate change and hunting by humans is the most likely explanation for their extinction.

New data derived from studies done on living elephants (see Levy 2006) suggests that though human hunting may not have been the primary cause toward the mammoth's final extinction, human hunting was likely a strong contributing factor. Homo erectus is known to have consumed mammoth meat as early as 1.8 million years ago (Levy 2006: 295).

However, the American Institute of Biological Sciences also notes that bones of dead elephants, left on the ground and subsequently trampled by other elephants, tend to bear marks resembling butchery marks, which have previously been misinterpreted as such by archaeologists.

The survival of the dwarf mammoths on Russia's Wrangel Island was due to the fact that the island was very remote, and uninhabited in the early Holocene period. The actual island was not discovered by modern civilization until the 1820s by American whalers. A similar dwarfing occurred with the Pygmy Mammoth on the outer Channel Islands of California, but at an earlier period. Those animals were very likely killed by early Paleo-Native Americans, and habitat loss caused by a rising sea level that split the Santa Rosae into the outer Channel Islands.

Thomas Jefferson, well-versed in the natural sciences, nevertheless suggested to Lewis and Clark that they might find mammoth during their explorations of the American West. It is a common misconception that mammoths were much larger than modern elephants, an error that has led to "mammoth" being used as an adjective meaning "very big". Certainly, the largest known species, the Imperial Mammoth of California, reached heights of at least 5 metres (16 feet) at the shoulder. Mammoths would probably normally weigh in the region of 6 to 8 tonnes, but exceptionally large males may have exceeded 12 tonnes. A 3.3 m. (11 ft.) long mammoth tusk was discovered north of Lincoln, Illinois in 2005. However, most species of mammoth were only about as large as a modern Asian Elephant. Fossils of species of dwarf mammoth have been found on the Californian Channel Islands (Mammuthus exilis) and the Mediterranean island of Sardinia (Mammuthus lamarmorae). There was also a race of dwarf woolly mammoths on Wrangel Island, north of Siberia, within the Arctic Circle.

Based on studies of their close relatives, the modern elephants, mammoths probably had a gestation period of 22 months, resulting in a single calf being born. Their social structure was probably the same as that of African and Asian elephants, with females living in herds headed by a matriarch, whilst bulls lived solitary lives or formed loose groups after sexual maturity.

BENEFITS OF EATING OAT MEAL

The Six Benefits Of Eating Oatmeal

First off, the oatmeal discussed here is not the instant kind that comes in the different flavors- these are full of sugar. The real stuff is the plain oat flakes from Quaker Oats or a similar brand.

The benefits of oatmeal are due to the fact that it's made from oats and oats are a good source of both soluble and insoluble fiber.

According to the American Cancer Society:

1. Insoluble fiber's cancer-fighting properties are due to the fact that it attacks certain bile acids, reducing their toxicity.

2. Soluble fiber may reduce LDL cholesterol without lowering HDL cholesterol. LDL is bad; HDL is good.

3. Soluble fiber slows down the digestion of starch. This may be beneficial to diabetics because, when you slow down the digestion of starch, you avoid the sharp rises in your blood sugar level that usually occurs following a meal.

4. It has been found that those who eat more oats are less likely to develop heart disease, a disease that is currently widespread in the United States.

5. The phytochemicals in oat may also have cancer-fighting properties.

6. Oats are a good source of many nutrients including vitamin E, zinc, selenium, copper, iron, manganese and magnesium. Oats are also a good source of protein.

The difference between insoluble and soluble fiber, besides the foods that they come from, is what they do in your body.

Insoluble fiber's main role is that it makes stools heavier and speeds their passage through the gut, relieving constipation. Soluble fiber breaks down as it passes through the digestive tract, forming a gel that traps some substances related to high cholesterol, thus reducing the absorption of cholesterol into the bloodstream.

Oatmeal has a pretty bland taste which makes it hard for the average person to consume every morning. Here are ways you can make it taste better.

1. Make the oatmeal with milk instead of water. This will also add calcium and more protein.

2. Add Stevia powder to the oatmeal. It will naturally sweeten up the taste without adding sugar.

3. Stir in your favorite-flavored protein powder to it after it's been cooked. This gives the oatmeal a pretty good taste plus it adds protein. Combine this with using milk and you'll have a meal that is high in fiber, calcium and protein!

4. Add fruit such as blueberries to the oatmeal.

You should aim to eat roughly 1 cooked cup of oatmeal each morning for optimal health benefits. And play around with the above preparation suggestions until you find a taste that you fall in love with.

Your heart and body will thank you for it!

HEMA MURTY'S TIPS ON DEALING WITH CHILD OBESITY

Childhood obesity has become a national epidemic. The statistics are clear. Eighteen percent of children are overweight and eight percent are obese. These are serious statistics. What can parents do to help this situation?

1. You should be involved with your child's life.

What does this mean? Children hate parents interfering with their life and the least hint of control can and probably will turn them against you. However, the problem is serious. Parents should first form a team within themselves and discuss strategy on how to talk to the child. Then, appoint one parent to have that discussion. Keep trying. Never give up. You should have an idea of your child's life. What do they do day to day and on weekends? Invest some time getting involved with Project Child. It can be frustrating and may seem like the child will want to get rid of your involvement. However, you must persist and do it gently. You must approach it from a point of view of love, that the three of you are a team. The child's problems are your problems. Create harmony and approach the conversation from a point of view of harmony rather than a top down approach.

2. When you get past step one, then plan out where the time is spent.

Where is the time being spent? Obviously, you should get some activity into the child's life. Where can the change be made? Can you or both parents be involved in that activity? Are family activities a possibility? Explore family swim time, hike time, snowshoeing time and others. Make it a group activity. If the child resists family events, then try to organize a group activity with the child and their friends. This might also be difficult. However, give it a try. Volunteer to take them somewhere on a group hike, bike ride, snowshoe trip. You can't take the top down approach of "You need to be more active". You must come up with a plan where there is involvement of other people.

3. What is the food situation? You should take stock of your child's eating habits.

What is going on? What are the meal plans? Take ownership of this issue and start planning out their meals. Take the extra time to make their lunches and snacks. My client's daughter started working at a restaurant. She never ate her own meals properly during the time she worked. She just ate whatever was lying around in the restaurant's kitchen. Most of the time, this would be bad food, like chocolate cake. The daughter ended up gaining weight. My client then took matters into her own hands and planned out her lunches and snacks. She made them in advance and took that extra time out of her day to do that. She also planned snacks and set them out around the house so that the daughter always had healthy snacks to choose from.

Following these three simple steps can help to alleviate childhood weight issues. It is because we let things go that these issues arise. Food is always the first resource to get rid of feeling bad. Make sure this is not a frequent issue by following the three steps in this article.

MILK THE BEST DRINK EVER

Milk is an opaque white liquid produced by the mammary glands of female mammals (including monotremes). Mammary glands are highly specialized sweat glands. The female ability to produce milk is one of the defining characteristics of mammals. It provides the primary source of nutrition for newborns before they are able to digest other types of food. The early lactation milk is known as colostrum, and carries the mother's antibodies to the baby. It can reduce the risk of many diseases in the baby. Males of all mammal species retain the breasts that are part of the fundamental mammalian animal structure, hence their nipples. Lactation occurs in males in certain rare circumstances, both naturally and artificially, however, some pharmaceuticals precipitate lactation in males readily. The exact components of raw milk varies by species, but it contains significant amounts of saturated fat, protein and calcium as well as vitamin C.

In almost all mammals, milk is fed to infants through breastfeeding, either directly or, for humans, by expressing the milk to be stored and consumed later. Some cultures, historically or currently, continue to use breast milk to feed their children until as old as seven years.

In many cultures of the world, especially the Western world, humans continue to consume milk beyond infancy, using the milk of other animals (in particular, cows) as a food product. For millennia, cow's milk has been processed into dairy products such as cream, butter, yogurt, ice cream, and especially the more durable and easily transportable product, cheese. Industrial science has brought us casein, whey protein, lactose, condensed milk, powdered milk, and many other food-additive and industrial products.

Humans are an exception in the natural world for consuming milk past infancy. Even those humans who drink milk after eating solid foods are uncommon within the whole of humanity. Most humans lose the ability to fully digest milk after childhood (that is, they become lactose intolerant). The sugar lactose is found only in milk, forsythia flowers, and a few tropical shrubs. The enzyme needed to digest lactose, lactase, reaches its highest levels in the small intestines after birth and then begins a slow decline unless milk is consumed regularly On the other hand, those groups that do continue to tolerate milk often have exercised great creativity in using the milk of domesticated ruminants, not only of cows, but also sheep, goats, yaks, water buffalo, horses, and camels.

The term milk is also used for whitish non-animal substitutes such as soy milk, rice milk, almond milk, and coconut milk. Even the regurgitated substance pigeons feed their young is called crop milk though it bears little resemblance to mammalian milk.

Milking has its advent in the very evolution of placental mammals. While the exact time of its appearance is not known, the immediate ancestors of modern mammals were much like monotremes, including the platypus. Such animals today produce a milk-like substance from glands on the surface of their skin, but without the nipple, for their offspring to drink after hatching from their eggs. Likewise, marsupials, the closest cousin to placental mammals, produce a milk-like substance from a teat-like organ in their pouches. The earliest immediate ancestor of placental mammals known seems to be eomaia, a small creature superficially resembling rodents, that is thought to have lived 125 million years ago, during the Cretaceous era. It almost certainly produced what would be considered milk, in the same way as modern placental mammals.

Animal milk is first known to have been used as human food at the beginning of animal domestication. Cow's milk was first used as human food in the Middle East. Goats and sheep were domesticated in the Middle East between 9000 and 8000 BC. Goats and sheep are ruminants: mammals adapted to survive on a diet of dry grass, a food source otherwise useless to humans, and one that is easily stockpiled. The animals were probably first kept for meat and hides[citation needed], but dairying proved to be a more efficient way of turning uncultivated grasslands into sustenance: the food value of an animal killed for meat can be matched by perhaps one year's worth of milk from the same animal, which will keep producing milk — in convenient daily portions — for years.

Around 7000 BC, cattle were being herded in parts of Turkey. There is evidence of milk consumption in the British Isles during the Neolithic period. The use of cheese and butter spread in Europe, parts of Asia and parts of Africa. Domestic cows, which previously existed throughout much of Eurasia, were then introduced to the colonies of Europe during the Age of exploration.

In the Western world today, cow's milk is produced on an industrial scale. It is by far the most commonly consumed form of milk in the western world. Commercial dairy farming using automated milking equipment produces the vast majority of milk in developed countries. Types of cattle such as the Holstein have been specially bred for increased milk production. According to McGee, 90% of the dairy cows in the United States and 85% in Great Britain are Holsteins. Other milk cows in the United States include Ayrshire, Brown Swiss, Guernsey, Jersey, and Milking Shorthorn. The largest producers of dairy products and milk today are India followed by the United States and China. In India, Amul, a cooperative owned jointly by 2.6 million small farmers was the engine behind the success of Operation Flood.

It was reported in 2007 that with increased world-wide prosperity and the competition of biofuel production for feedstocks, both the demand for and the price of milk had substantially increased world wide. Particularly notable was the rapid increase of consumption of milk in China and the rise of the price of milk in the United States above the government subsidized price.

Milk is an emulsion of butterfat globules within a water-based fluid. Each fat globule is surrounded by a membrane consisting of phospholipids and proteins; these emulsifiers keep the individual globules from joining together into noticeable grains of butterfat and also protect the globules from the fat-digesting activity of enzymes found in the fluid portion of the milk. In unhomogenized cow's milk, the fat globules average about four micrometers across. The fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K are found within the milkfat portion of the milk.

The largest structures in the fluid portion of the milk are casein protein micelles: aggregates of several thousand protein molecules, bonded with the help of nanometer-scale particles of calcium phosphate. Each micelle is roughly spherical and about a tenth of a micrometer across. There are four different types of casein proteins, and collectively they make up around 80 percent of the protein in milk, by weight. Most of the casein proteins are bound into the micelles. There are several competing theories regarding the precise structure of the micelles, but they share one important feature: the outermost layer consists of strands of one type of protein, kappa-casein, reaching out from the body of the micelle into the surrounding fluid. These Kappa-casein molecules all have a negative electrical charge and therefore repel each other, keeping the micelles separated under normal conditions and in a stable colloidal suspension in the water-based surrounding fluid.

Both the fat globules and the smaller casein micelles, which are just large enough to deflect light, contribute to the opaque white color of milk. The fat globules contain some yellow-orange carotene, enough in some breeds — Guernsey and Jersey cows, for instance — to impart a golden or "creamy" hue to a glass of milk. The riboflavin in the whey portion of milk has a greenish color, which can sometimes be discerned in skim milk or whey products. Fat-free skim milk has only the casein micelles to scatter light, and they tend to scatter shorter-wavelength blue light more than they do red, giving skim milk a bluish tint.

Milk contains dozens of other types of proteins besides the caseins. They are more water-soluble than the caseins and do not form larger structures. Because these proteins remain suspended in the whey left behind when the caseins coagulate into curds, they are collectively known as whey proteins. Whey proteins make up around twenty percent of the protein in milk, by weight. Lactoglobulin is the most common whey protein by a large margin.

The carbohydrate lactose gives milk its sweet taste and contributes about 40% of whole cow milk's calories. Lactose is a composite of two simple sugars, glucose and galactose. In nature, lactose is found only in milk and a small number of plants. Other components found in raw cow milk are living white blood cells. Mammary-gland cells, various bacteria, and a large number of active enzymes are some other components in milk.

Upon standing for 12 to 24 hours, fresh milk has a tendency to separate into a high-fat cream layer on top of a larger, low-fat milk layer. The cream is often sold as a separate product with its own uses; today the separation of the cream from the milk is usually accomplished rapidly in centrifugal cream separators. The fat globules rise to the top of a container of milk because fat is less dense than water. The smaller the globules, the more other molecular-level forces prevent this from happening. In fact, the cream rises in cow milk much more quickly than a simple model would predict: rather than isolated globules, the fat in the milk tends to form into clusters containing about a million globules, held together by a number of minor whey proteins. These clusters rise faster than individual globules can. The fat globules in milk from goats, sheep, and water buffalo do not form clusters so readily and are smaller to begin with; cream is very slow to separate from these milks. Milk is often homogenized, a treatment which prevents a cream layer from separating out of the milk. The milk is pumped at high pressures through very narrow tubes, breaking up the fat globules through turbulence and cavitation. A greater number of smaller particles possess more total surface area than a smaller number of larger ones, and the original fat globule membranes cannot completely cover them. Casein micelles are attracted to the newly-exposed fat surfaces; nearly one-third of the micelles in the milk end up participating in this new membrane structure. The casein weighs down the globules and interferes with the clustering that accelerated separation. The exposed fat globules are briefly vulnerable to certain enzymes present in milk, which could break down the fats and produce rancid flavors. To prevent this, the enzymes are inactivated by pasteurizing the milk immediately before or during homogenization. Homogenized milk tastes blander but feels creamier in the mouth than unhomogenized; it is whiter and more resistant to developing off flavors. Creamline, or cream-top, milk is unhomogenized; it may or may not have been pasteurized. Unlike pasteurization, homogenization confers no health or safety benefits to the milk, only the convenience of not needing to shake the bottle oneself.

Unhomogenized milk has made a small comeback in a few areas, such as the west coast of the United States where Straus Family Creameries, based originally out of Sonoma, sells one line of organic milk with the cream still on top in old-fashioned glass bottles. They still however pasteurize it to prevent harmful microorganisms.

Processed milk began containing differing amounts of fat during the 1950s. A serving (1 cup or 250 ml) of 2%-fat milk contains 285 mg of calcium, which represents 22% to 29% of the daily recommended intake (DRI) of calcium for an adult. Depending on the age, 8 grams of protein, and a number of other nutrients (either naturally or through fortification):

* Vitamins D and K are essential for bone health.
* Iodine is a mineral essential for thyroid function.
* Vitamin B12 and riboflavin are necessary for cardiovascular health and energy production, and B12 is difficult to get outside of animal products or else as supplemental pills.
* Biotin and pantothenic acid are B vitamins important for energy production.
* Vitamin A is critical for immune function.
* Potassium and magnesium are for cardiovascular health.
* Selenium is a cancer-preventive trace mineral.
* Thiamine is a B-vitamin important for cognitive function, especially memory
* Conjugated linoleic acid is a beneficial fatty acid that inhibits several types of cancer in mice, it has been shown to kill human skin cancer, colorectal cancer and breast cancer cells in vitro studies, and may help lower cholesterol and prevent atherosclerosis; only available in milk from grass-fed cows.

Studies show possible links between low-fat milk consumption and reduced risk of arterial hypertension, coronary heart disease, colorectal cancer and obesity. Overweight individuals who drink milk may benefit from decreased risk of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes.

Interestingly, a study has shown that for women desiring to have a child, those who consume full fat dairy products may actually slightly increase their fertility, while those consuming low fat dairy products may slightly reduce their fertility due to interference with ovulation. However, studies in this area are still inconsistent.

* Milk contains casein, a substance that breaks down in the human stomach to produce casomorphin, an opioid peptide. In the early 1990s it was hypothesized that casomorphin can cause or aggravate autism, and casein-free diets are widely promoted. Studies supporting these claims have had significant flaws, and the data are inadequate to guide autism treatment recommendations.
* Lactose intolerance, discussed below.
* Cow milk allergy (CMA) is as an immunologically mediated adverse reaction to one or more cow's milk proteins. Rarely is it severe enough to cause death.
* There are some groups debating the amount of calcium from milk that is actually absorbed by the human body. However, it is argued by detractors that calcium from dairy products has greater bio-availability than calcium from vegetable products.
* One study demonstrated that men, and to some degree women, who drink a large amount of milk and consume dairy products were at a slightly increased risk of developing Parkinson's disease. The reason behind this is not fully understood, and it also remains unclear why there is less of a risk for women.
* Several sources suggest a correlation between high calcium intake (2000 mg per day, or twice the US recommended daily allowance, equivalent to six or more glasses of milk per day) and prostate cancer. A large study specifically implicates dairy. A review published by the World Cancer Research Fund and the American Institute for Cancer Research states that at least eleven human population studies have linked excessive dairy product consumption and prostate cancer, however randomized clinical trial data with appropriate controls only exists for calcium, not dairy produce, where there was no correlation.

Advocacy groups such PETA and the Vegetarian & Vegan Foundation have attempted to establish a link between consumption of dairy products and various illnesses and diseases. Medical studies have shown a possible link between milk consumption and many diseases such as Crohn’s Disease, celiac disease among the lactose intolerant, Hirschsprung's disease–mimicking symptoms due to milk proteins, increased risk of developing atopic disease after early feeding with cows' milk based formula, ulcerative colitis, severe gastroesophageal reflux disease in infants and children hypersenstitive to milk, and Behçet's disease.

Common claims include:

* White blood cells -- Milk contains varying levels of white blood cells depending upon the health of the source animals, according to guidelines set up by the Food and Drug Administration and statistics reported by the dairy industry.
* Bovine Growth Hormone(rbst) -- Since November 1993, with FDA approval, Monsanto has been selling recombinant bovine somatotropin (rbST)--or rBGH--to dairy farmers. Additional bovine growth hormone is administered to cattle in order to increase their milk production, though the hormone also naturally fosters liver production of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1). The deposit thereof in the milk of rBGH-affected cattle has been the source of concern; however, all milk contains IGF1 since all milking cows produce bovine growth hormone naturally. The IGF1 in milk from rBGH-affected cattle does not vary from the range normally found in a non-supplemented cow. Elevated levels of IGF1 in human blood has been linked to increased rates of breast, colon, and prostate cancer by stimulating their growth, though this has not been linked to milk consumption. The EU has recommended against Monsanto milk. In addition, the cows receiving rBGH supplements may more frequently contract an udder infection known as mastitis, partly responsible for the aforementioned prevalence of blood cells in dairy products. Milk from rBGH-affected cattle is banned in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan due to the mastitis problems. On June 9, 2006 the largest milk processor in the world and the two largest supermarkets in the United States--Dean Foods, Wal-Mart, and Kroger--announced that they are "on a nationwide search for rBGH-free milk."

No study has indicated that consumption of rBST-produced milk increases IGF1 levels, nor has any study demonstrated an increased risk of any disease between those consuming rBST and non-rBST produced milk.[citation needed] In 1994, the FDA has concluded that no significant difference has been shown between milk derived from rBST-treated and non-rBST-treated cows, nor does any test exist which can differentiate between milk from rBST-treated and non-rBST treated cows.

In countries where the cattle (and often the people) live indoors, commercially sold milk commonly has vitamin D added to it to make up for lack of exposure to UVB radiation.

Reduced fat milks often have added vitamin A to compensate for the loss of the vitamin during fat removal; in the United States this results in reduced fat milks having a higher vitamin A content than whole milk.

To aid digestion in those with lactose intolerance, milk is available in some areas with added bacterial cultures such as Lactobacillus acidophilus ("acidophilus milk") and bifidobacteria ("a/B milk"). Another milk with Lactococcus lactis bacteria cultures ("cultured buttermilk") is often used in cooking to replace the traditional use of naturally soured milk, which has become rare due to the ubiquity of pasteurization which kills the naturally occurring lactococcus bacteria.

Milk often has flavoring added to it for better taste or as a means of improving sales. Chocolate flavored milk has been sold for many years and has been followed more recently by such other flavors as strawberry and banana.

South Australia has the highest consumption of flavored milk per person in the world, where Farmers Union Iced Coffee outsells Coca-Cola, a success shared only by Inca Kola in Peru and Irn-Bru in Scotland.

Switzerland has a soft drink based on milk that tastes and looks much like SevenUp. This popular "milk-cola", named Rivella, is in fact the national soft drink and even comes complete in low calorie & low sugar varieties. In spite of what might be expected, it does not taste like milk.

Because milk spoils so easily, it should, ideally, be distributed as quickly as possible. In many countries milk used to be delivered to households daily, but economic pressure has made milk delivery much less popular, and in many areas daily delivery is no longer available. People buy it chilled at grocery or convenience stores or similar retail outlets. Prior to the widespread use of plastics, milk was sold in wax-coated paper containers; prior to that milk was often distributed to consumers in glass bottles; and before glass bottles, in bulk that was ladled into the customer's container.

In the UK, milk can be delivered daily by a milkman who travels his local milk round (route) using a battery-powered milk float during the early hours. Milk is delivered in 1 pint glass bottles with aluminium foil tops. Silver top denotes full cream unhomogenized; red top full cream homogenized; red/silver top semi-skimmed; blue/silver check top skimmed; and gold top channel island.

Empty bottles are rinsed before being left outside for the milkman to collect and take back to the dairy for washing and reuse. Currently many milkmen operate franchises as opposed to being employed by the dairy and payment is made at regular intervals, by leaving a check; by cash collection; or direct debit.

Although there was a steep decline in doorstep delivery sales throughout the 1990s, the service is still prominent, as dairies have diversified and the service is becoming more popular again. The doorstep delivery of milk is seen as part of the UK's heritage, and is relied upon by people up and down the country.

In New Zealand, milk is no longer distributed in glass bottles. In rural India, milk is delivered daily by a local milkman carrying bulk quantities in a metal container, usually on a bicycle; and in other parts of metropolitan India, milk is usually bought or delivered in a plastic bags or cartons via-shops or supermarkets.

In the United States bottles were replaced with milk cartons, which are tall paper boxes with a square cross-section and a peaked top that can be folded outward upon opening to form a spout. Now milk is increasingly sold in plastic bottles. First the gallon and half-gallon sizes were sold in plastic jugs while the smaller sizes were sold in milk cartons. Recently milk has been sold in smaller resealable bottles made to fit in automobile cup holders.

The half-pint milk carton is the traditional unit as a component of school lunches. In the U.S., pictures of missing children were printed on the larger milk cartons as a public service until it was determined that this was disturbing to children.

Milk preserved by the UHT process is sold in cartons often called a brick that lack the peak of the traditional milk carton. Milk preserved in this fashion does not need to be refrigerated before opening and has a longer shelf life than milk in ordinary packaging. It is more typically sold unrefrigerated on the shelves in Europe than in America.

Glass milk containers are now rare. Most people purchase milk in bags, plastic jugs or waxed-paper cartons. Ultraviolet light from fluorescent lighting can destroy some of the proteins in milk so many companies that once distributed milk in transparent or highly translucent containers are now using thicker materials that block the UV light. Many people feel that such "UV protected" milk tastes better.

Milk comes in a variety of containers with local variants:

* Australia and New Zealand: Distributed in a variety of sizes, most commonly in aseptic cartons for up to 1 litres, and plastic screw-top bottles beyond that with the following volumes; 1.1L, 2L, and 3L. 1 litre Bags are starting to appear in supermarkets, but have not yet proved popular. Most UHT-milk is packed in 1 or 2 litre paper containers with a sealed plastic spout.
* Brazil: Used to be sold in cooled 1 litre bags, just like in South Africa. Nowadays the most common form is 1 litre aseptic cartons containing UHT skimmed, semi-skimmed or whole milk, although the plastic bags are still in use.
* Canada: 1.33 litre plastic bags (sold as 4 litres in 3 bags) are widely available in some areas (especially Ontario and Québec), although the 4 litre plastic jug has supplanted them in western Canada. Other common packaging sizes are 2 litre, 1 litre, 500 millilitre, and 250 millilitre cartons, as well as 4 litre, 1 litre, 250 mL aseptic cartons and 500 millilitre plastic jugs.
* China: Sweetened milk is a drink popular with students of all ages and is often sold in small plastic bags complete with straw. Adults not wishing to drink at a banquet often drink milk served from cartons or milk tea.
* Parts of Europe: Sizes of 500 millilitres, 1 litre (the most common), 2 litres and 3 litres are commonplace.
* Hong Kong - milk is sold in glass bottles (220 mL), cartons (236 mL and 1L), plastic jugs (2 litres) and aseptic cartons (250 mL).
* India: Commonly sold in 500 mL plastic bags. It is still customary to serve the milk boiled, despite pasteurization. Milk is often buffalo milk. Flavored milk is sold in most convenience stores in waxed cardboard containers. Convenience stores also sell many varieties of milk (such as flavored and ultra-pasteurized) in different sizes, usually in aseptic cartons.
* Israel: Non-UHT milk is most commonly sold in 1 litre waxed cardboard boxes and 1 litre plastic bags. It may also be found in 0.5L and 2L waxed cardboard boxes, 2L plastic jugs and 1L plastic bottles. UHT milk is available in 1 litre (and less commonly also in 0.25L) carton "bricks".
* Japan: Commonly sold in 1 litre waxed cardboard boxes. In most city centers there is also home delivery of milk in glass jugs. As seen in China, sweetened and flavored milk drinks are very popular to see in vending machines.
* South Africa: Commonly sold in 1 litre bags. The bag is then placed in a plastic jug and the corner cut off before the milk is poured.
* South Korea: sold in cartons (180mL, 200mL, 500mL 900mL, 1L, 1.8L, 2.3L), plastic jugs (100Ml and 1.8L), aseptic cartons (180mL and 200mL) and plastic bags (100mL).
* Poland: UHT milk is mostly sold in aseptic cartons (500mL, 1L, 2L), and non-UHT in 1L plastic bags or plastic bottles. Milk, UHT is commonly boiled, despite being pasteurized.
* Turkey: Commonly sold in 500 mL or 1L cartons or special plastic bottles. UHT milk is more popular. Milkmen also serve in smaller towns and villages.
* United Kingdom: Most stores still stock Imperial sizes: 1 pint (568 mL), 2 pints (1.136 L), 4 pints (2.273 L), 6 pints (3.408 L) or a combination including both metric and imperial sizes. Glass milk bottles delivered to the doorstep by the milkman are typically pint-sized and are returned empty by the householder for repeated reuse. Milk is also sold at supermarkets in either aseptic cartons or HDPE bottles. Milk can still be legally sold by the Imperial pint in reusable bottles in the UK under EU regulations (a distinction only shared with beer and cider), whilst a growing number of manufacturers such as Northern Foods now sell milk in 1 and 2 litre bottles.
* United States: Commonly sold in gallon, half-gallon and quart containers (U.S. customary units) of rigid plastic or, occasionally for sizes less than a gallon, waxed cardboard, although bottles made of opaque PET are starting to become more commonplace in all smaller sizes. The US single-serving size is usually the half-pint (about 240 ml). Occasionally dairies will deliver milk straight to customers in coolers filled with glass bottles (usually half-gallon). Some convenience store chains in the United States (such as Kwik Trip in the Midwest) sell milk in 1/2 gallon bags.
* Uruguay: Commonly sold in 1 litre bags. The bag is then placed in a plastic jug and the corner cut off before the milk is poured.

Practically everywhere, condensed milk and evaporated milk is distributed in metal cans, 250 and 125 ml paper containers and 100 and 200 mL squeeze tubes, and powdered milk (skim and whole) is distributed in boxes or bags.

When raw milk is left standing for a while, it turns "sour". This is the result of fermentation, where lactic acid bacteria ferment the lactose inside the milk into lactic acid. Prolonged fermentation may render the milk unpleasant to consume. This fermentation process is exploited by the introduction of bacterial cultures (e.g. Lactobacilli sp., Streptococcus sp., Leuconostoc sp., etc) to produce a variety of fermented milk products. The reduced pH from lactic acid accumulation denatures proteins and caused the milk to undergo a variety of different transformations in appearance and texture, ranging from an aggregate to smooth consistency. Some of these products include sour cream, yoghurt, cheese, buttermilk, viili, kefir and kumis. See Dairy product for more information.

Pasteurization of cow's milk initially destroys any potential pathogens and increases the shelf-life [52][53], but eventually results in spoilage that makes it unsuitable for consumption. This causes it to assume an unpleasant odor, and the milk is deemed non-consumable due to unpleasant taste and an increased risk of food poisoning. In raw milk, the presence of lactic acid-producing bacteria, under suitable conditions, ferments the lactose present to lactic acid. The increasing acidity in turn prevents the growth of other organisms, or slows their growth significantly. During pasteurization however, these lactic acid bacteria are mostly destroyed.

In order to prevent spoilage, milk can be kept refrigerated and stored between 1 and 4 degrees Celsius in bulk tanks. Most milk is pasteurized by heating briefly and then refrigerated to allow transport from factory farms to local markets. The spoilage of milk can be forestalled by using ultra-high temperature (UHT) treatment; milk so treated can be stored unrefrigerated for several months until opened. Sterilized milk, which is heated for a much longer period of time, will last even longer, but also loses more nutrients and assume a different taste. Condensed milk, made by removing most of the water, can be stored in cans for many years, unrefrigerated, as can evaporated milk. The most durable form of milk is milk powder, which is produced from milk by removing almost all water. The moisture content is usually less than 5% in both drum and spray dried milk powder.

YOUR MY HONEY

Honey is a sweet and viscous fluid produced by honey bees (and some other species), and derived from the nectar of flowers. According to the United States National Honey Board and various international food regulations, "honey stipulates a pure product that does not allow for the addition of any other substance...this includes, but is not limited to, water or other sweeteners". This article refers exclusively to the honey produced by honey bees (the genus Apis); honey produced by other bees or other insects has very different properties.

Honey is significantly sweeter than table sugar and has attractive chemical properties for baking. Honey has a distinctive flavor which leads some people to prefer it over sugar and other sweeteners.

Most microorganisms do not grow in honey because of its low water activity of 0.6. However, it is important to note that honey frequently contains dormant endospores of the bacteria Clostridium botulinum, which can be dangerous to infants as the endospores can transform into toxin-producing bacteria in the infant's immature intestinal tract, leading to illness and even death.

The study of pollens and spores in raw honey (melissopalynology) can determine floral sources of honey. Because bees carry an electrostatic charge, and can attract other particles, the same techniques of melissopalynology can be used in area environmental studies of radioactive particles, dust, or particulate pollution.

A main effect of bees collecting nectar to make honey is pollination, which is crucial for flowering plants.

The beekeeper encourages overproduction of honey within the hive so that the excess can be taken without endangering the bees. When sources of foods for the bees are short the beekeeper may have to give the bees supplementary nutrition.

Honey is laid down by bees as a food source. In cold weather or when food sources are scarce, bees use their stored honey as their source of energy. By contriving for the bee swarm to make its home in a hive, people have been able to semi-domesticate the insects. In the hive there are three types of bee: the single queen bee, a seasonally variable number of drone bees to fertilize new queens, and some 20,000 to 40,000 worker bees. The worker bees raise larvae and collect the nectar that will become honey in the hive. They go out, collect the sugar-rich flower nectar and return to the hive. As they leave the flower, bees release Nasonov pheromones. These enable other bees to find their way to the site by smell. Honeybees also release Nasonov pheromones at the entrance to the hive, which enables returning bees to return to the proper hive. In the hive the bees use their "honey stomachs" to ingest and regurgitate the nectar a number of times until it is partially digested. It is then stored in the honeycomb. Nectar is high in both water content and natural yeasts which, unchecked, would cause the sugars in the nectar to ferment. After the final regurgitation, the honeycomb is left unsealed. Bees inside the hive fan their wings, creating a strong draft across the honeycomb which enhances evaporation of much of the water from the nectar. The reduction in water content, which raises the sugar concentration, prevents fermentation. Ripe honey, as removed from the hive by the beekeeper, has a long shelf life and will not ferment.

Honey is a mixture of sugars and other compounds. With respect to carbohydrates, honey is mainly fructose (about 38.5%) and glucose (about 31.0%)[3], making it similar to the synthetically produced inverted sugar syrup which is approximately 47% fructose, 47% glucose and 5% sucrose. Honey's remaining carbohydrates include maltose, sucrose, and other complex carbohydrates.

Honey contains trace amounts of several vitamins and minerals. As with all nutritive sweeteners, honey is mostly sugars and is not a significant source of vitamins or minerals.

Honey also contains tiny amounts of several compounds thought to function as antioxidants, including chrysin, pinobanksin, vitamin C, catalase, and pinocembrin.

The specific composition of any batch of honey will depend largely on the mix of flowers available to the bees that produced the honey.

Honey has a density of about 1.36 kg/liter (40% denser than water).

Typical honey analysis

* Fructose: 38.0%
* Glucose: 31.0%
* Sucrose: 1.0%
* Water: 17.0%
* Other sugars: 9.0% (maltose, melezitose)
* Ash: 0.17%
* Other: 3.38%

The analysis of the sugar content of honey is used for detecting adulteration.

* Comb honey Honey sold still in the original bees' wax comb. Comb honey was once packaged by installing a wooden framework in special honey supers, but this labor intensive method is being replaced by plastic rings or cartridges. With the new approach, a clear cover is usually fitted onto the cartridge after removal from the hive so customers can see the product[citation needed].
* Certified Organic Honey, according to the USDA, organic honey is quite rare to find because most beekeepers "routinely use sulfa compounds and antibiotics to control bee diseases, carbolic acid to remove honey from the hive and calcium cyanide to kill colonies before extracting the honey, not to mention that conventional honeybees gather nectar from plants that have been sprayed with pesticides."
* Raw honey Honey as it exists in the beehive or as obtained by extraction, settling or straining without adding heat above 120 degrees fahrenheit. Raw honey contains some pollen and may contain small particles of wax. Local raw honey is sought after by allergy sufferers as the pollen impurities are thought to lessen the sensitivity to hay fever.
* Chunk honey Honey packed in widemouth containers consisting of one or more pieces of comb honey surrounded by extracted liquid honey.
* Strained honey or Honey which has been passed through a mesh material to remove particulate material (pieces of wax, propolis, other defects) without removing pollen, minerals or valuable enzymes. Preferred by the health food trade - it may have a cloudy appearance due to the included pollen, and it also tends to crystallize more quickly than ultrafiltered honey.
* Ultrafiltered honey Honey processed by very fine filtration under high pressure to remove all extraneous solids and pollen grains. The process typically heats honey to 150-170 degrees to more easily pass through the fine filter. Ultrafiltered honey is very clear and has a longer shelf life, because it crystallizes more slowly due to the high temperatures breaking down any sugar seed crystals, making it preferred by the supermarket trade. Ultrafiltration eliminates nutritionally valuable enzymes, such as diastase and invertase.
* Heat-Treated honey Heat-treatment after extraction reduces the moisture level and destroys yeast cells. Heating liquefies crystals in the honey, too. Heat-exposure does also result in product deterioration, as it increases the level of hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) and reduces enzyme (e.g. diastase) activity. The heat does also affect sensory qualities and reduces the freshness. Heat processing can darken the natural honey color (browning), too.
* Ultrasonicated honey Ultrasonication is a non-thermal processing alternative for honey. When honey is exposed to ultrasonication, most of the yeast cells are destroyed. Yeast cells that survive sonication generally lose their ability to grow. This reduces the rate of honey fermentation substantially. Ultrasonication does also eliminate existing crystals and inhibit further crystallization in honey. Ultrasonically aided liquefaction can work at substantially lower temperatures of approx. 35 °C and can reduce liquefaction time to less than 30 seconds.


Due to its unique composition and the complex processing of nectar by the bees which changes its chemical properties, honey is suitable for long term preservation and is easily assimilated even after long conservation. History knows examples of honey preservation for decades, and even centuries. "...small residues of edible honey have even been found in the pharaoh's tombs..."[22]

A number of special prerequisites is, however, necessary to achieve the conservation periods of this order. These might include sealing the product in vessels of chosen material, kept in a favorable environment of specific humidity, temperature etc. An example of natural sealing of the honey with wax by the bees in little separated honey comb cells could be taken for reference.

When conventional preservation methods are applied, it is not recommended to preserve the honey for longer than 2 (maximum 3) years. As the honey has a strong tendency to absorb outside smells, it is advisable to keep it in clean, hermetically sealed vessels. It is also advisable to keep it in darkened (not lucid) vessels, or in dark store-places. When the honey remains in direct sunlight for about one day its lysozyme (antibacterial albuminous enzyme) is being destroyed[citation needed]. Honey should also be protected from oxygen inflow – the accelerated crystallization is brought about by it. Optimal preservation temperature is +4-10°C. The store-place should be dark and dry, preventing the honey from absorbing the moisture. When excessive moisture is soaked up by the honey, it might start fermenting. "Bee honey can absorb the moisture from the air, therefore it might ferment in a damp place"[23]

"Exposure to fresh air brings about the soaking up of external smells, oxygen and moisture, which cause fundamental chemical change of the product - decay of valuable amino acids, vitamins, enzymes and "antibiotics". The light has a similar influence."[24]

The acacia honey is known to be more resistant against crystallization. "The acacia honey would not crystallize (as quick as other types)..."[25]

Due to the above reasons (high tendency to absorb outside smells and moisture) it is not advisable to preserve the honey in a fridge, especially together with other foods and products.

Honey is considered to gradually become toxic when preserved in metal containers. "Honey must not be preserved in metal containers, because the acids contained in its structure may cause oxidation. This leads to increased content of heavy metals in honey and decreases the amount of valuable healthy ingredients. Such a honey may cause obnoxious sensations in the stomach and even bring about a poisoning..."[26] It used to be preserved in ceramic and wooden containers in ancient times. Glass bottles are recommended nowadays. "The wooden vessels of coniferous wood are not suitable for honey preservation (honey soaks up the coniferous smell in such vessels). In the oak wood vessels honey grows black."[27]

Traditionally honey was preserved in deep cellars, but not together with wine or other products. It is considered even more sensitive to the store-place conditions than the best wines.

Honey should not be heated above 40°С (104°F) [28]. See also [29].

"The best honey is in the uncut honey combs. After being pumped out from there it is very vulnerable, and the main losses of quality take place during preservation and distribution. Heating up to 37°С causes loss of nearly 200 components, part of which are antibacterial. Heating up to 40°С destroys the invertase - the main bee enzyme, thanks to which the nectar becomes honey; heating up to 50°С turns the honey into caramel (the most valuable honey sugars become analogous to synthetic sugar). Generally any larger temperature fluctuation (10°С is ideal for preservation of ripe honey) causes decay."[30]

The high quality natural honey can be distinguished by its fragrance and taste. The best period to stock up on honey is in summer, when it is being collected in large quantities. The ripe, freshly collected, high quality honey at 20°C (68°F) flows from the knife in a straight squirt, without breaking into separate drops. After falling down the honey should form a clear hillock. A saying goes: “the honey rustles and glues like viscose”. The ripe honey is being collected from the sealed honey combs, therefore it should always be of high quality.

The honey should not lay down in layers. If this is a case, it indicates the excessive humidity (over 20%) of the product, and such a honey would not be suitable for long term preservation.

A fluffy thin layer on the surface of the honey (like a white foam), or marble-coloured and white spots in crystallized honey at the wallsides of the bottle are caused by filling of liquid honey with subsequent sealing – the air bubbles are surfacing and part of them is concentrated at the wallsides. This is an indication of a high quality honey, which was filled without pasteurization (heating).

If the honey is transparent, burning with amber-like colours, then (unless it is very fresh) it has most likely been heated and is of little value. Transparent and reluctant to thicken honey can also indicate its being a result of feeding the bees with sugar syrup or even sugar itself, which is bad both for the bees and for the honey they produce, as naturally they are supposed to feed on flower nectar.

A true honey that is at least one month old is usually of demure (not trans-lucid) colours.

Due to the natural presence of botulinum endospores in honey, children under one year of age should not be given honey. The more developed digestive systems of older children and adults generally destroy the spores. Infants, however, can contract botulism from honey.[47]

Honey produced from the flowers of rhododendrons, mountain laurels, sheep laurel and azaleas may cause honey intoxication. Symptoms include dizziness, weakness, excessive perspiration, nausea and vomiting. Less commonly, low blood pressure, shock, heart rhythm irregularities and convulsions may occur, with rare cases resulting in death. Honey intoxication is more likely when using "natural" unprocessed honey and honey from farmers who may have a small number of hives. Commercial processing, with pooling of honey from numerous sources generally dilutes any toxins.[48]

Toxic honey may also result when bees are in close proximity to tutu bushes (Coriaria arborea) and the vine hopper insect (Scolypopa australis).[citation needed] Both are found throughout New Zealand. Bees gather honeydew produced by the vine hopper insects feeding on the tutu plant. This introduces the poison tutin into honey. Only a few areas in New Zealand (Coromandel Peninsula, Eastern Bay of Plenty and the Marlborough Sound) frequently produce toxic honey. Symptoms of tutin poisoning include vomiting, delirium, giddiness, increased excitability, stupor, coma and violent convulsions. As little as one teaspoon of toxic honey may produce severe effects in humans.[citation needed] In order to reduce the risk of tutin poisoning, humans should not eat honey taken from feral hives in the risk areas of New Zealand. Since December 2001, New Zealand beekeepers have been required to reduce the risk of producing toxic honey by closely monitoring tutu, vine hopper, and foraging conditions within 3 km of their apiary.

BIOGAS THE NEXT GENERATION OF ALTERNATIVE FUEL FOR THE WORLD

Biogas typically refers to a gas produced by the biological breakdown of organic matter in the absence of oxygen. Biogas is comprised primarily of methane and carbon dioxide. Biogas originates from biogenic material and is a type of biofuel. Biogas is a product of the anaerobic digestion or fermentation of biodegradable materials such as manure or sewage, municipal waste, and energy crops. Other types of biogas include wood gas which is created by gasification of wood or other biomass.

The methane in biogas gives it the ability to be used as a fuel. The combustion of which releases energy. In developing countries biogas can be used as a low-cost fuel for cooking. It can also be utilised in modern waste management facilities where it can be used in gas engines to generate electricity. Biogas is a renewable fuel and electricity produced from it can be used to attract renewable energy subsidies in some parts of the world.

Depending on where it is produced, biogas can also be called swamp, marsh, landfill or digester gas. A biogas plant is the name often given to an anaerobic digester that treats farm wastes or energy crops.

Biogas can be produced utilising anaerobic digesters. These plants can be fed with energy crops such as maize silage or biodegradable wastes including sewage sludge and food waste.

Landfill gas is produced by organic waste decomposing under anaerobic conditions in a landfill. The waste is covered and compressed mechanically and by the weight of the material that is deposited from above. This material prevents oxygen from accessing the waste and anaerobic microbes thrive. This gas builds up and is slowly released into the atmosphere if the landfill site has not been engineered to capture the gas. Landfill gas is hazardous for three key reasons. Landfill gas becomes explosive when it escapes from the landfill and mixes with oxygen within lower and higher explosive limits. The methane in biogas forms explosive mixtures in air. The lower explosive limit is 5% methane and the upper explosive limit is 15% methane. The methane contained within biogas is 20 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Therefore uncontained landfill gas which escapes into the atmosphere significantly contributes to the effects of global warming. In addition to this volatile organic compounds (VOCs) contained within landfill gas contribute to the formation of photochemical smog.

The composition of biogas varies depending upon the origin of the anaerobic digestion process. Landfill gas typically has methane concentrations around 50%. Advanced waste treatment technologies can produce biogas with 55-75%CH4.

In some cases biogas contains siloxanes. These siloxanes are formed from the anaerobic decomposition of materials commonly found in soaps and detergents. During combustion of biogas containing siloxanes, silicon is released and can combine with free oxygen or various other elements in the combustion gas. Deposits are formed containing mostly silica (SiO2) or silicates (SixOy) and can also contain calcium, sulphur, zinc, phosphorus. These white mineral deposits build to a surface thickness of several millimetres and must be removed by chemical or mechanical means.

Biogas can be utilised for electricity production, space heating, water heating and process heating. If compressed, it can replace compressed natural gas for use in vehicles, where it can fuel an internal combustion engine or fuel cells.

Methane within biogas can be concentrated to the same standards as natural gas, when it is, it is called biomethane. If the local gas network permits it the producer of the biogas may be able to utilise the local gas distribution networks. Gas must be very clean to reach pipeline quality, and must be of the correct composition for the local distribution network to accept. Carbon dioxide, Water, hydrogen sulfide and particulates must be removed if present. If concentrated and compressed it can also be used in vehicle transportation. Compressed biogas is becoming widely used in Sweden, Switzerland and Germany. A biogas-powered train has been in service in Sweden since 2005.

Bates' and his biogas car were the subject of a short documentary film called 'Sweet as a Nut' in 1974, at which point he had run his car for 17 years on gas he had produced by processing pig manure. Bates, an inventor lived in Devon, UK and in the film talks through the simple process and benefits of running a car on biogas. The conversion was simply made with an adapter attached to any combustion engine.

In India biogas produced from the anaerobic digestion of manure in small-scale digestion facilites is called Gober gas. In India biogas is generated at an estimated 2 million+ household facilites. The digester is an airtight circular pit made of concrete with a pipe connection. The manure is directed to the pit, usually directly from the cattle shed. The pit is then filled with a required quantity of wastewater. The gas pipe is connected to the kitchen fire place through control valves. The combustion of the biogas produced in this manner flammable has very little odour or smoke. Owing to its simplicity in implementation and use of cheap raw materials in the villages it is one of the most environmentally sound energy source for the rural needs.

The Biogas Support Program in Nepal has intalled over 100,000 biogas plants in rural areas.

Vietnam’s Biogas Programme for Animal Husbandry Sector has led to the installation of over 20,000 plants throughout that country.

Biogas is also in use in rural Costa Rica.

In Colombia experiments with diesel engines-generator sets partially fuelled by biogas demonstrated that biogas could be used for power generation, reducing elecricity costs by 40% compared with purchase from the regional utility.

Biogasmax is a large-scale integrated project funded by the European Commission in order to ensure the market penetration of biogas as a vehicle fuel. The European Biogasmax project creates a network of biogas-related demonstrations in order to share best practices in managing sustainable urban transportation. The cities involved in Biogasmax include Stockholm, Gothenburg, Lille, Rome and Berne.

The research and development projects carried out in the context of BIOGASMAX are closely tied to the following four main fields of technological activities:

Production of biogas from various types of urban and organic waste; Upgrading of biogas to a high-quality fuel; Distribution for transport and injection into natural gas grids; Use in vehicles to increase the number of biomethane-fueled vehicles.

The European Union presently has some of the strictest legislation regarding waste management and landfill sites called the Landfill Directive. The United States legislates against landfill gas as it contains these VOCs. The United States Clean Air Act and Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) requires landfill owners to estimate the quantity of non-methane organic compounds (NMOCs) emitted. If the estimated NMOC emissions exceeds 50 tonnes per year the landfill owner is required to collect the landfill gas and treat it to remove the entrained NMOCs. Treatment of the landfill gas is usually by combustion. Because of the remoteness of landfill sites it is sometimes not economically feasible to produce electricity from the gas.

AMAZON RIVER

The Amazon River or River Amazon (Portuguese: Rio Amazonas; Spanish: Río Amazonas) of South America is the largest river in the world by volume, with a total river flow greater than the next top ten largest rivers flowing into the ocean combined.

The Amazon River accounts for approximately 1/5 of total world's river flow, and it has the largest drainage basin in the world. There is an ongoing dispute regarding its length, and along with the Nile it is one of the contenders for the position as the longest river in the world. Because of its vast dimensions, it is sometimes called The River Sea (o rio-mar in Portuguese), and at no point is it crossed by bridges. In 1500, Vicente Yañez Pinzón was the first European to sail into the river. Pinzón called the river flow "Río Santa María de la Mar Dulce", later shortened to "Mar Dulce" (sweet sea).

The Amazon River or River Amazon (Portuguese: Rio Amazonas; Spanish: Río Amazonas) of South America is the largest river in the world by volume, with a total river flow greater than the next top ten largest rivers flowing into the ocean combined.

The Amazon River accounts for approximately 1/5 of total world's river flow, and it has the largest drainage basin in the world. There is an ongoing dispute regarding its length, and along with the Nile it is one of the contenders for the position as the longest river in the world. Because of its vast dimensions, it is sometimes called The River Sea (o rio-mar in Portuguese), and at no point is it crossed by bridges.[1] In 1500, Vicente Yañez Pinzón was the first European to sail into the river. Pinzón called the river flow "Río Santa María de la Mar Dulce", later shortened to "Mar Dulce" (sweet sea).

Today, the Upper Amazon has a series of major river systems in Peru (many of which are alike in Ecuador) that flow North and South into the Marañón and Amazon River. Among others, these include the following rivers: Morona, Pastaza, Nucuray, Urituyacu, Chambira, Tigre, Nanay, Napo, Huallaga, and Ucayali. The same as in the snow-crested Andes high above Lake Lauricocha in central Peru, the headstream of the Marañón River rises in the glaciers in what is known as the Nevado de Yarupa. Rushing through waterfalls and gorges in an area of the high jungle called the pongos, the Marañón River flows about 1,000 miles (1,600 km) from west-central to northeast Peru before it combines with the Ucayali River, just below the provincial town of Nauta, to form the mighty Amazon River. The primary tributaries of the Marañón River are--from south to north--the Crisnejas, Chamayo, Urtcubamba, Cenepa, Santiago, Moroña, Pastaza, Huallaga, and Tiger Rivers (Cavero-Egusquiza 1941:49-51).The most distant source of the Amazon was firmly established in 1996, 2001 and 2007 as a glacial stream on a snowcapped 5,597 m (18,363 ft) peak called Nevado Mismi in the Peruvian Andes, roughly 160 km (100 mi) west of Lake Titicaca and 700 km (430 mi) southeast of Lima. The waters from Nevado Mismi flow into the Quebradas Carhuasanta and Apacheta, which flow into the Río Apurímac which is a tributary of the Ucayali which later joins the Marañón to form the Amazon proper.

Formally, though, the union of the Ucayali and the Marañón form the Río Amazonas, which changes its name to Solimões on the triple frontier between Peru, Colombia and Brazil, and later changes its name back to the Amazon only after it meets the Rio Negro near Manaus. After the confluence of Río Apurímac and Ucayali, the river leaves Andean terrain and is instead surrounded by flood plain. From this point to the Marañón, some 1,600 km (990 mi), the forested banks are just out of water, and are inundated long before the river attains its maximum flood-line. The low river banks are interrupted by only a few hills, and the river enters the enormous Amazon Rainforest.

The river systems and flood plains in Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela whose waters drain into the Solimões and its tributaries are called the "Upper Amazon".

The Amazon Rainforest begins from the eastern edge of the Andes. It is the largest rainforest in the world and is of great ecological significance, as its biomass is capable of absorbing enormous amounts of carbon dioxide. Conservation of the Amazon Rainforest has been a major issue in recent years.

The rainforest is supported by the extremely wet climate of the Amazon basin. The Amazon, and its hundreds of tributaries, flow slowly across the landscape, with an extremely shallow gradient sending them towards the sea: Manaus, 1,600 km (1,000 mi) from the Atlantic, is only 44 m (144 ft) above sea level.

The biodiversity within the rainforest is extraordinary: the region is home to at least 2.5 million insect species, tens of thousands of plants, and some 2,000 birds and mammals. One fifth of all the world's species of birds can be found in the Amazon rainforest.

The diversity of plant species in the Amazon basin is the highest on Earth. Some experts estimate that one square kilometre may contain over 75,000 types of trees and 150,000 species of higher plants.[citation needed] One square kilometre of Amazon rainforest can contain about 90,000 tons of living plants.

The average depth of the river in the height of the rainy season is 40 m (131 ft) and the average width can be nearly 40 km (25 mi)[citation needed]. It starts to rise in November, and increases in volume until June, then falls until the end of October. The rise of the Negro branch is not synchronous; the rainy season does not commence in its valley until February or March. By June it is full, and then it begins to fall with the Amazon. The Madeira rises and falls two months earlier than the Amazon.

The main river (which is between approximately one and six miles wide) is navigable for large ocean steamers to Manaus, 1,500 kilometres (930 mi) upriver from the mouth. Smaller ocean vessels of 3,000 tons and 5.5 metres (18 ft) draft can reach as far as Iquitos, Peru, 3,600 kilometres (2,240 mi) from the sea. Smaller riverboats can reach 780 kilometer (485 mi) higher as far as Achual Point. Beyond that, small boats frequently ascend to the Pongo de Manseriche, just above Achual Point.

The breadth of the Amazon in some places is as much as 6 km (4 mi) to 10 km (6 mi) from one bank to the other[citation needed]. At some points, for long distances, the river divides into two main streams with inland and lateral channels, all connected by a complicated system of natural canals, cutting the low, flat igapo lands, which are never more than 5 m (16 ft) above low river, into many islands.

From the village of Canaria at the great bend of the Amazon to the Negro 1,000 km (600 mi) downstream, only very low land is found, resembling that at the mouth of the river. Vast areas of land in this region are submerged at high water, above which only the upper part of the trees of the sombre forests appear. Near the mouth of the Rio Negro to Serpa, nearly opposite the river Madeira, the banks of the Amazon are low, until approaching Manaus, they rise to become rolling hills. At Óbidos, a bluff 17 m (56 ft) above the river is backed by low hills. The lower Amazon seems to have once been a gulf of the Atlantic Ocean, the waters of which washed the cliffs near Óbidos.

Only about 10% of the water discharged by the Amazon enters the mighty stream downstream of Óbidos, very little of which is from the northern slope of the valley. The drainage area of the Amazon basin above Óbidos is about 5 million km² (2 million mile²), and, below, only about 1 million km² (400,000 mile²), or around 20%, exclusive of the 1.4 million km² (600,000 mile²) of the Tocantins basin.

In the lower reaches of the river, the north bank consists of a series of steep, table-topped hills extending for about 240 km (149 mi) from opposite the mouth of the Xingu as far as Monte Alegre. These hills are cut down to a kind of terrace which lies between them and the river.

Monte Alegre reaches an altitude of several hundred feet. On the south bank, above the Xingu, an almost-unbroken line of low bluffs bordering the flood-plain extends nearly to Santarem, in a series of gentle curves before they bend to the south-west, and, abutting upon the lower Tapajos, merge into the bluffs which form the terrace margin of the Tapajos river valley.

The width of the mouth of the river is usually measured from Cabo do Norte to Punto Patijoca. But this includes the ocean outlet, 60 km (40 mi) wide, of the Para river, which should be deducted, as this stream is only the lower reach of the Tocantins. It also includes the ocean frontage of Marajó, an island lying in the mouth of the Amazon. This means that the Amazon is wider at its mouth than the entire length of the Thames in England.

Following the coast, a little to the north of Cabo do Norte, and for 160 kilometres (99 mi) along its Guiana margin up the Amazon, is a belt of half-submerged islands and shallow sandbanks. Here the tidal phenomenon called the bore, or pororoca, occurs, where the depths are not over 7 metres (23 ft). The tidal bore starts with a roar, constantly increasing, and advances at the rate of from 15 km/h (9 mph) to 25 km/h (16 mph), with a breaking wall of water from 1.5 m (5 ft) to 4 m (13 ft) high. The bore is the reason the Amazon does not have a delta; the ocean rapidly carries away the vast volume of silt carried by the Amazon, making it impossible for a delta to grow. It also has a very large tide sometimes reaching 20 feet (6 m) and has become a popular spot for river surfing in england.

During the wet season the Amazon mouth may grow up to 300 miles long, 500 billion cubic feet of fresh water flows into the Atlantic. That adds up to 5,787,037 cubic feet per second.

During what many archaeologists call the formative period, Amazonian societies were deeply involved in the emergence of South America's highland agrarian systems, and possibly contributed directly to the social and religious fabric constitutive of the Andean civilizational orders.

For 350 years after the European discovery of the mighty Amazon by Vicente Yáñez Pinzón, the Portuguese portion of the basin remained an untended former food gathering and planned agricultural landscape occupied by the Indigenous peoples who survived the arrival of European diseases. There is ample evidence for large-scale, pre-Columbian social formations, including chiefdoms, in many areas of Amazonia (particularly the inter-fluvial regions).

In what is currently Brazil, Ecuador, Bolivia, Colombia, Peru, and Venezuela a number of colonial and religious settlements were established along the banks of primary rivers and tributaries for the purpose of trade, slaving and evangelization among the putatively savage indigenous peoples of the vast rain forest.

The total population of the Brazilian portion of the Amazon basin in 1850 was perhaps 300,000, of whom about two-thirds comprised by Europeans and slaves, the slaves amounting to about 25,000. In Brazil, the principal commercial city, Para (now Belém), had from 10,000 to 12,000 inhabitants, including slaves. The town of Manáos, now Manaus, at the mouth of the Rio Negro, had from 1,000 to 1,500 population. All the remaining villages, as far up as Tabatinga, on the Brazilian frontier of Peru, were relatively small.

On September 6, 1850, the emperor, Dom Pedro II, sanctioned a law authorizing steam navigation on the Amazon, and gave Barão de Mauá (Irineu Evangilista de Sousa) the task of putting it into effect. He organized the "Compania de Navigacao e Commercio do Amazonas" at Rio de Janeiro in 1852; and in the following year it commenced operations with three small steamers, the Monarch, the Marajó and Rio Negro.

At first, navigation was principally confined to the main river; and even in 1857 a modification of the government contract only obliged the company to a monthly service between Pará and Manaus, with steamers of 200 tons cargo capacity, a second line to make six round voyages a year between Manaus and Tabatinga, and a third, two trips a month between Para and Cameta. This was the first step in opening up the vast interior.

The success of the venture called attention to the opportunities for economic exploitation of the Amazon, and a second company soon opened commerce on the Madeira, Purus and Negro; a third established a line between Pará and Manaus; and a fourth found it profitable to navigate some of the smaller streams. In that same period, the Amazonas Company was increasing its fleet. Meanwhile, private individuals were building and running small steam craft of their own on the main river as well as on many of its tributaries.

On July 31 1867 the government of Brazil, constantly pressed by the maritime powers and by the countries encircling the upper Amazon basin, especially Peru, decreed the opening of the Amazon to all flags; but limited this to certain defined points: Tabatinga—on the Amazon; Cameta—on the Tocantins; Santarem—on the Tapajos; Borba—on the Madeira and Manáos—on the Rio Negro. The Brazilian decree took effect on 7 September 1867.

Thanks in part to the mercantile development associated with steam boat navigation, coupled with the internationally driven demand for natural rubber (1880-1920), Manáos (now Manaus), Para (Brazil), and Iquitos, Peru became thriving, cosmopolitan centers of commerce and spectacular—albeit illusory—modern "urban growth". This was particularly the case for Iquitos during its late 19th and early 20th century Rubber Bonanza zenith when this dynamic boom-town was known abroad as the St. Louis of the Amazon.

The first direct foreign trade with Manáos was commenced around 1874. Local trade along the river was carried on by the English successors to the Amazonas Company—the Amazon Steam Navigation Company—as well as numerous small steamboats, belonging to companies and firms engaged in the rubber trade, navigating the Negro, Madeira, Purfis and many other tributaries, such as the Marañón to ports as distant as Nauta, Peru.

By the turn of the 20th century, the principal exports of the Amazon Basin were india-rubber, cacao, Brazil nuts and a few other products of minor importance, such as pelts and exotic forest produce (resins, barks, woven hammocks, prized bird feathers, live animals, etc.) and extracted goods (lumber, gold, etc.).

Four centuries after the European discovery of the Amazon river, the total cultivated area in its basin was probably less than 25 square miles (65 km²), excluding the limited and crudely cultivated areas among the mountains at its extreme headwaters. This situation changed dramatically during the 20th century.
Manaus, the largest city on the Amazon, as seen from a NASA satellite image, surrounded by the muddy Amazon River and the dark Rio Negro.
Manaus, the largest city on the Amazon, as seen from a NASA satellite image, surrounded by the muddy Amazon River and the dark Rio Negro.

Wary of foreign exploitation of the nation's resources, Brazilian governments in the 1940s set out to develop the interior, away from the seaboard where foreigners owned large tracts of land. The original architect of this expansion was President Getúlio Vargas, the demand for rubber from the Allied forces in World War II providing funding for the drive.

The construction of the new capital Brasilia in the interior in 1960 also contributed to the opening up of the Amazon basin. A large scale colonization program saw families from north-eastern Brazil relocated to the forests, encouraged by promises of cheap land. Many settlements grew along the road from Brasilia to Belém, but rainforest soil proved difficult to cultivate.

Still, long-term development plans continued. Roads were cut through the forests, and in 1970, the work on Trans-Amazon highway network began. The network's three pioneering highways were completed within ten years, connecting all the major cities of the Brazilian Amazon interior

While debate as to whether the Amazon or the Nile is the world's longest river has gone on for many years, the historic consensus of geographic authorities has been to regard the Amazon as the second longest river in the world, with the Nile being the longest. However, the Amazon has been measured by different geographers as being anywhere between 6,259 kilometres (3,889 mi) and 6,800 kilometres (4,225 mi) long. The Nile River in Africa is reported to be anywhere from 5,499 kilometres (3,417 mi) to 6,690 kilometres (4,157 mi). The differences in these measurements often result from the use of different definitions.

A recent study by Brazilian scientists claims that the Amazon is actually longer than the Nile. Using Nevado Mismi, which was labeled by the National Geographic Society as the Amazon's source back in 2001, these scientists have made new calculations of the Amazon's length. They now estimate that the Amazon is 65 miles longer than the Nile, and Guido Gelli, director of science at the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), told the Brazilian TV network Globo in June 2007 that it could be considered as a fact that the Amazon was the longest river in the world. However, other geographers have had access to the same data since 2001, and a consensus has yet to emerge to support the claims of these Brazilian scientists.

Regardless of the actual length, the Amazon carries by far the greatest volume of any of Earth's rivers.

BREAST CANCER

Breast cancer is a cancer that starts in the cells of the breast. Worldwide, breast cancer is the second most common type of cancer (10.4%; after lung cancer) and the fifth most common cause of cancer death (after lung cancer, stomach cancer, liver cancer, and colon cancer). Among women worldwide, breast cancer is the most common cause of cancer death. In 2005, breast cancer caused 502,000 deaths worldwide (7% of cancer deaths; almost 1% of all deaths). The number of cases worldwide has significantly increased since the 1970s, a phenomenon partly blamed on modern lifestyles in the Western world.

North American women have the highest incidence of breast cancer in the world. Among women in the U.S., breast cancer is the most common cancer and the second-most common cause of cancer death (after lung cancer). Women in the U.S. have a 1 in 8 (12.5%) lifetime chance of developing invasive breast cancer and a 1 in 35 (3%) chance of breast cancer causing their death. In 2007, breast cancer was expected to cause 40,910 deaths in the U.S. (7% of cancer deaths; almost 2% of all deaths).

In the U.S., both incidence and death rates for breast cancer have been declining in the last few years. Nevertheless, a U.S. study conducted in 2005 by the Society for Women's Health Research indicated that breast cancer remains the most feared disease, even though heart disease is a much more common cause of death among women.

Because the breast is composed of identical tissues in males and females, breast cancer also occurs in males. Incidences of breast cancer in men are approximately 100 times less common than in women, but men with breast cancer are considered to have the same statistical survival rates as women.

Breast cancers are described along four different classification schemes, or groups, each based on different criteria and serving a different purpose :

* Pathology - A pathologist will categorize each tumor based on its histological (microscopic anatomy) appearance and other criteria. The most common pathologic types of breast cancer are invasive ductal carcinoma, malignant cancer in the breast's ducts, and invasive lobular carcinoma, malignant cancer in the breast's lobules.
* Grade of tumor - The histological grade of a tumor is determined by a pathologist under a microscope. A well-differentiated (low grade) tumor resembles normal tissue. A poorly differentiated (high grade) tumor is composed of disorganized cells and, therefore, does not look like normal tissue. Moderately differentiated (intermediate grade) tumors are somewhere in between.
* Protein & gene expression status - Currently, all breast cancers should be tested for expression, or detectable effect, of the estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR) and HER2/neu proteins. These tests are usually done by immunohistochemistry and are presented in a pathologist's report. The profile of expression of a given tumor helps predict its prognosis, or outlook, and helps an oncologist choose the most appropriate treatment. More genes and/or proteins may be tested in the future.
* Stage of a tumour - The currently accepted staging scheme for breast cancer is the TNM classification :
o Tumor - There are five tumor classification values (Tis, T1, T2, T3 or T4) which depend on the presence or absence of invasive cancer, the dimensions of the invasive cancer, and the presence or absence of invasion outside of the breast (e.g. to the skin of the breast, to the muscle or to the rib cage underneath).
o Lymph Node - There are four lymph node classification values (N0, N1, N2 or N3) which depend on the number, size and location of breast cancer cell deposits in lymph nodes.
o Metastases - There are two metastatic classification values (M0 or M1) which depend on the presence or absence of breast cancer cells in locations other than the breast and lymph nodes (so-called distant metastases, e.g. to bone, brain, lung).

Early breast cancer can in some cases present as breast pain (mastodynia) or a painful lump. Since the advent of breast mammography, breast cancer is most frequently discovered as an asymptomatic nodule on a mammogram, before any symptoms are present. A lump under the arm or above the collarbone that does not go away may be present.

When breast cancer has invaded the dermal lymphatics - small lymph vessels of the skin, its presentation can resemble skin inflammation and thus is known as inflammatory breast cancer. In inflammatory breast cancer, the breast cancer is blocking lymphatic vessels and this can cause pain, swelling, warmth, and redness throughout the breast, as well as an orange peel texture to the skin referred to as peau d'orange. Although there may have been no previous signs of breast cancer and the cancer might be missed in screening mamograms, Inflammatory Breast Cancer is at least locally advanced at presentation (LABC) and Stage IIIB. Immediate staging tests are required to rule out distant metastes which might already be present making it Stage IV.

Changes in the appearance or shape of the breast can raise suspicions of breast cancer.

Another reported symptom complex of breast cancer is Paget's disease of the breast. This syndrome presents as eczematoid skin changes at the nipple, and is a late manifestation of an underlying breast cancer.

Most breast symptoms do not turn out to represent underlying breast cancer. Benign breast diseases such as fibrocystic mastopathy, mastitis, functional mastodynia, and fibroadenoma of the breast are more common causes of breast symptoms. The appearance of a new breast symptom should be taken seriously by both patients and their doctors, because of the possibility of an underlying breast cancer at almost any age.

Occasionally, breast cancer presents as metastatic disease, that is, cancer that has spread beyond the original organ. Metastatic breast cancer will cause symptoms that depend on the location of metastasis. More common sites of metastasis include bone, liver, lung, and brain. Unexplained weight loss can occasionally herald an occult breast cancer, as can symptoms of fevers or chills. Bone or joint pains can sometimes be manifestations of metastatic breast cancer, as can jaundice or neurological symptoms. Pleural effusions are not uncommon with metastatic breast cancer. Obviously, these symptoms are "non-specific," meaning they can also be manifestations of many other illnesses.

Epidemiological risk factors for a disease can provide important clues as to the etiology of a disease. The first work on breast cancer epidemiology was done by Janet Lane-Claypon, who published a comparative study in 1926 of 500 breast cancer cases and 500 control patients of the same background and lifestyle for the British Ministry of Health.

Today, breast cancer, like other forms of cancer, is considered to be the final outcome of multiple environmental and hereditary factors.

1. Lesions to DNA such as genetic mutations. Exposure to estrogen has been experimentally linked to the mutations that cause breast cancer. Beyond the contribution of estrogen, research has implicated viral oncogenesis and the contribution of ionizing radiation.
2. Failure of immune surveillance, which usually removes malignancies at early phases of their natural history.
3. Abnormal growth factor signaling in the interaction between stromal cells and epithelial cells, for example in the angiogenesis necessary to promote new blood vessel growth near new cancers.
4. Inherited defects in DNA repair genes, such as BRCA1, BRCA2 and p53.

Although many epidemiological risk factors have been identified, the cause of any individual breast cancer is often unknowable. In other words, epidemiological research informs the patterns of breast cancer incidence across certain populations, but not in a given individual. The primary risk factors that have been identified are sex, age, childbearing, hormones, a high-fat diet, alcohol intake, obesity, and environmental factors such as tobacco use and radiation.

No etiology is known for 95% of breast cancer cases, while approximately 5% of new breast cancers are attributable to hereditary syndromes. In particular, carriers of the breast cancer susceptibility genes, BRCA1 and BRCA2, are at a 30-40% increased risk for breast and ovarian cancer, depending on in which portion of the protein the mutation occurs.

Studies have found that "folate intake counteracts breast cancer risk associated with alcohol consumption" and "women who drink alcohol and have a high folate intake are not at increased risk of cancer." A prospective study of over 17,000 women found that those who consume 40 grams of alcohol (about 3-4 drinks) per day have a higher risk of breast cancer. However, in women who take 200 micrograms of folate (folic acid or Vitamin B9) every day, the risk of breast cancer drops below that of alcohol abstainers.

Folate is involved in the synthesis, repair, and functioning of DNA, the body’s genetic map, and a deficiency of folate may result in damage to DNA that may lead to cancer. In addition to breast cancer, studies have also associated diets low in folate with increased risk of pancreatic, and colon cancer.

Foods rich in folate include citrus fruits, citrus juices, dark green leafy vegetables (such as spinach), dried beans, and peas. Vitamin B9 can also be taken in a multivitamin pill.

Breast cancer is diagnosed by the examination of surgically removed breast tissue. A number of procedures can obtain tissue or cells prior to definitive treatment for histological or cytological examination. Such procedures include fine-needle aspiration, nipple aspirates, ductal lavage, core needle biopsy, and local surgical excision. These diagnostic steps, when coupled with radiographic imaging, are usually accurate in diagnosing a breast lesion as cancer. Occasionally, pre-surgical procedures such as fine needle aspirate may not yield enough tissue to make a diagnosis, or may miss the cancer entirely. Imaging tests are sometimes used to detect metastasis and include chest X-ray, bone scan, Cat scan, MRI, and PET scanning. While imaging studies are useful in determining the presence of metastatic disease, they are not in and of themselves diagnostic of cancer. Only microscopic evaluation of a biopsy specimen can yield a cancer diagnosis. Ca 15.3 (carbohydrate antigen 15.3, epithelial mucin) is a tumor marker determined in blood which can be used to follow disease activity over time after definitive treatment. Blood tumor marker testing is not routinely performed for the screening of breast cancer, and has poor performance characteristics for this purpose.

Breast cancer is staged according to the TNM system, updated in the AJCC Staging Manual, now on its sixth edition. Prognosis is closely linked to results of staging, and staging is also used to allocate patients to treatments both in clinical trials and clinical practice. The information for staging is as follows:

TX: Primary tumor cannot be assessed. T0: No evidence of tumor. Tis: Carcinoma in situ, no invasion T1: Tumor is 2 cm or less T2: Tumor is more than 2 cm but not more than 5 cm T3: Tumor is more than 5 cm T4: Tumor of any size growing into the chest wall or skin, or inflammatory breast cancer

NX: Nearby lymph nodes cannot be assessed N0: Cancer has not spread to regional lymph nodes. N1: Cancer has spread to 1 to 3 axillary or one internal mammary lymph node N2: Cancer has spread to 4 to 9 axillary lymph nodes or multiple internal mammary lymph nodes N3: One of the following applies:

Cancer has spread to 10 or more axillary lymph nodes, or Cancer has spread to the lymph nodes under the clavicle (collar bone), or Cancer has spread to the lymph nodes above the clavicle, or Cancer involves axillary lymph nodes and has enlarged the internal mammary lymph nodes, or Cancer involves 4 or more axillary lymph nodes, and tiny amounts of cancer are found in internal mammary lymph nodes on sentinel lymph node biopsy.

MX: Presence of distant spread (metastasis) cannot be assessed. M0: No distant spread. M1: Spread to distant organs, not including the supraclavicular lymph node, has occurred

Summary of stages:

* Stage 0 - Carcinoma in situ
* Stage I - Tumor (T) does not involve axillary lymph nodes (N).
* Stage IIA – T 2-5 cm, N negative, or T <2 cm and N positive.
* Stage IIB – T > 5 cm, N negative, or T 2-5 cm and N positive (< 4 axillary nodes).
* Stage IIIA – T > 5 cm, N positive, or T 2-5 cm with 4 or more axillary nodes
* Stage IIIB – T has penetrated chest wall or skin, and may have spread to < 10 axillary N
* Stage IIIC – T has > 10 axillary N, 1 or more supraclavicular or infraclavicular N, or internal mammary N.
* Stage IV – Distant metastasis (M)

Breast lesions are examined for certain markers, notably sex steroid hormone receptors. About two thirds of postmenopausal breast cancers are estrogen receptor positive (ER+) and progesterone receptor positive (PR+).[74] Receptor status modifies the treatment as, for instance, only ER-positive tumors, not ER-negative tumors, are sensitive to hormonal therapy.

The breast cancer is also usually tested for the presence of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2, a protein also known as HER2, neu or erbB2. HER2 is a cell-surface protein involved in cell development. In normal cells, HER2 controls aspects of cell growth and division. When activated in cancer cells, HER2 accelerates tumor formation. About 20-30% of breast cancers overexpress HER2. Those patients may be candidates for the drug trastuzumab, both in the postsurgical setting (so-called "adjuvant" therapy), and in the metastatic setting.

The mainstay of breast cancer treatment is surgery when the tumor is localized, with possible adjuvant hormonal therapy (with tamoxifen or an aromatase inhibitor), chemotherapy, and/or radiotherapy. At present, the treatment recommendations after surgery (adjuvant therapy) follow a pattern. This pattern is subject to change, as every two years, a worldwide conference takes place in St. Gallen, Switzerland, to discuss the actual results of worldwide multi-center studies. Depending on clinical criteria (age, type of cancer, size, metastasis) patients are roughly divided to high risk and low risk cases, with each risk category following different rules for therapy. Treatment possibilities include radiation therapy, chemotherapy, hormone therapy, and immune therapy.

In planning treatment, doctors can also use PCR tests like Oncotype DX or microarray tests like MammaPrint that predict breast cancer recurrence risk based on gene expression. In February 2007, the MammaPrint test became the first breast cancer predictor to win formal approval from the Food and Drug Administration. This is a new gene test to help predict whether women with early-stage breast cancer will relapse in 5 or 10 years, this could help influence how aggressively the initial tumor is treated.

A prognosis is the medical team's "best guess" in how cancer will affect a patient. There are many prognostic factors associated with breast cancer: staging, tumour size and location, grade, whether disease is systemic (has metastasized, or traveled to other parts of the body), recurrence of the disease, and age of patient.

Stage is the most important, as it takes into consideration size, local involvement, lymph node status and whether metastatic disease is present. The higher the stage at diagnosis, the worse the prognosis. Larger tumours, invasiveness of disease to lymph nodes, chest wall, skin or beyond, and aggressiveness of the cancer cells raise the stage, while smaller tumours, cancer-free zones, and close to normal cell behaviour (grading) lower it.

Grading is based on how cultured biopsied cells behave. The closer to normal cancer cells are, the slower their growth and a better prognosis. If cells are not well differentiated, they appear immature, divide more rapidly, and tend to spread. Well differentiated is given a grade of 1, moderate is grade 2, while poor or undifferentiated is given a higher grade of 3 or 4 (depending upon the scale used).

Younger women tend to have a poorer prognosis than post-menopausal women due to several factors. Their breasts are active with their cycles, they may be nursing infants, and may be unaware of changes in their breasts. Therefore, younger women are usually at a more advanced stage when diagnosed.

The presence of estrogen and progesterone receptors in the cancer cell, while not prognostic, is important in guiding treatment. Those who do not test positive for these specific receptors will not respond to hormone therapy.

Likewise, HER2/neu status directs the course of treatment. Patients whose cancer cells are positive for HER2/neu have more aggressive disease and may be treated with trastuzumab, a monoclonal antibody that targets this protein.

Breast cancer may be one of the oldest known forms of cancer tumors in humans. The oldest description of cancer was discovered in Egypt and dates back to approximately 1600 BC. The Edwin Smith Papyrus describes 8 cases of tumors or ulcers of the breast that were treated by cauterization.The writing says about the disease, "There is no treatment." For centuries, physicians described similar cases in their practises, with the same sad conclusion. It wasn't until doctors achieved greater understanding of the circulatory system in the 17th century that they could establish a link between breast cancer and the lymph nodes in the armpit. The French surgeon Jean Louis Petit (1674-1750) and later the Scottish surgeon Benjamin Bell (1749-1806) were the first to remove the lymph nodes, breast tissue, and underlying chest muscle. Their successful work was carried on by William Stewart Halsted who started performing mastectomies in 1882. He became known for his Halsted radical mastectomy, a surgical procedure that remained popular up to the 1970s.