Saturday, February 11, 2017
stack-n-grow-light-system
put starters closer together on the bottom and romaine lettuce ready-to-eat at top
Tuesday, February 7, 2017
Young cancer patient killed by 'contaminated' medical marijuana
- A California cancer patient died after smoking contaminated medical marijuana
- Doctors tested 20 samples in the state and found 90% had some type of pathogen
- Most states do not require quality control testing at all for cannabis
- But past research has shown that as much as 15 percent can have contaminants
Medicinal marijuana is supposed to cure symptoms of nausea, fatigue, and mood swings in cancer patients.
But for one young man, it cost him his life.
The patient, from northern California, died from a rare fungal infection believed to have come from a contaminated batch of medical marijuana.
Two doctors began noticing that patients were becoming very sick after smoking the drug and decided to investigate why.
A California cancer patient died from a rare fungal infection believed to have come from a contaminated batch of medical marijuana. Most states don't require quality control testing
Dr George Thompson, a fungal infection expert with UC Davis Medical Center, said the patients at the time were undergoing very intensive chemotherapy and because of that had compromised immune systems.
About five patients came down with a relatively rare but particularly lethal fungal infection. The doctors said that these patients were relatively young and in winnable cancer battles. But for one man, the infection killed him.
'We thought it was strange to have cases of such a bad fungal disease in such a short amount of time, in a span of two to three months,' Dr Thompson told Daily Mail Online.
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Dr Thompson teamed up with Dr Joseph Tuscano, of the University of California Davis Cancer Center, to investigate further. But they had a problem: federal law prohibited them from doing that research at UC Davis, so they joined forces with Steep Hill Laboratories in Berkeley.
Dr Donald Land, who has been analyzing contaminated marijuana for over a decade with plenty of experience finding mold and fungus strains, became their partner.
He told KPIX 5: 'We sometimes see 20 or 30 percent of our samples coming through the lab significantly contaminated with molds.'
The team gathered 20 samples of medical marijuana from across California and took them apart. They pulled out a range of dangerous bacteria and fungi which they analyzed down to their DNA.
Dr Thompson said 100 percent of the samples came back with mold and 90 percent had bacteria and fungi - similar to what he had seen in the sick patients.
'The main ones were Klebsiella, E.coli, Pseudomonas, Acinetobacter. All of these are very serious infections for anybody in the hospital. But particularly in the very vulnerable cancer population,' he said.
One of questions this raises is whether the risk is made worse by smoking, which could send pathogens directly into the lungs, which are particularly vulnerable.
Although there isn't a great deal of research on this issue, the doctors believe the infection to be self-inflicted from cannabis use.
A common misconception is that the medicine acquired at dispensaries is safer than recreational marijuana but, according to Dr Thompson, 'it doesn't matter where you get, it's all the same and all has a chance of potentially being infected'.
Research has shown Colorado - ground zero of marijuana legalization in the US -has cannabis lining store shelves that is much more potent than the weed of 30 years ago.
But this potency boost comes at a cost—modern marijuana lacks many of the components touted as beneficial and is contaminated with fungi, pesticides, and heavy metals.
Colorado does not yet require testing of marijuana for contaminants. Washington, the second state to legalize recreational marijuana, does require testing for microbial agents.
Testing for E.coli, salmonella, and yeast mold conducted in 2014 resulted in a rejection of about 13 percent of the marijuana products offered for sale.
Andy LaFrate, founder of Charas Scientific - one of eight Colorado labs certified to test cannabis - told Smithsonian Magazine that his team tested more than 600 strains of marijuana from dozens of producers in 2015.
The team conducted potency tests - the only ones Colorado currently requires - and looked at tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive compound that produces the plant's famous high.
They found that modern weed contains THC levels between 18 and 30 percent—double to triple the levels that were common in buds from the 1980s. The team also commonly found fungi and bacteria in the products.
'It's pretty startling just how dirty a lot of this stuff is,' LaFrate said.
'Like ourselves, this plant is living with bacteria that are essential to its survival. In terms of microbial contamination, it's kind of hard to say what's harmful and what's not.
'So the questions become: What's a safe threshold, and which contaminants do we need to be concerned about?'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-4201536/Cancer-patient-killed-contaminated-medical-marijuana.html#ixzz4Y3hSC62X
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Friday, January 27, 2017
Hygge (pronounced hoo-gah)
10 Ways to Master the Danish Art of Hygge in Your Home
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Long, dark winter nights and stormy weather have us craving a roaring fire, fluffy slippers, and a soft blanket to curl up under. As the Danes would say, we want to get hygge. Hygge (pronounced hoo-gah) is the Danish concept of coziness and intimacy—as one tea company puts it, hygge is "taking pleasure from the soothing, ordinary, and inexpensive things in life"—and it has made its way across the Atlantic. To achieve optimal hygge in your own home, grab a warm drink, put on your chunkiest sweater, and check out the below tips.
1. HEAT THINGS UP.
A flickering fire can instantly make any space feel intimate. If you don't have a fireplace in your home, create that warm and cozy vibe by arranging candles of different sizes and shapes into a cluster, says Kayleigh Tanner, owner of the U.K.-based blog Hello Hygge. “My favorites are Yankee Candles in scents like cinnamon and vanilla, but a bag of cheap tea lights will do the trick just as well,” Tanner says.
2. BRING THE OUTDOORS INSIDE.
Take a cue from nature (which is innately relaxing and stress-busting) and add some greenery to your home. Can't keep plants alive? Add natural materials like leather, stone, and wood to your space.
3. TURN OFF THE LIGHTS.
Unless you have a dimmer, overhead lights are often too bright to create the homey feeling you're after. So turn off that light and rely on table lamps instead, Tanner says.
4. STREAMLINE.
Cozy spaces might be small, but that doesn't mean they're cluttered. Kate Marengo, founder and president of Interior Chicago, says you can’t relax in spaces that are overwhelming. So before you add your hygge touches (candles, a throw, books), take a page from Marie Kondo's book and strip away any extraneous items that don't bring you joy.
5. REACH FOR SOMETHING SOFT.
Texture is a big part of hygge, says Pia Edberg, Vancouver-based author of The Cozy Life. Edberg suggests surrounding yourself with soft items like knitted fleece throw blankets, fluffy pillows, shag rugs, and comfy furniture.
6. SURROUND YOURSELF WITH OBJECTS THAT TELL A STORY.
"There are studies about how hygge in Denmark shies far away from consumerism,” Edberg says. Instead of stocking up on mass-produced items, decorate your home with furniture and accents that are meaningful to you. Edberg says this could mean the items were given to you as gifts, you purchased them on your travels, or they are antiques with a rich history.
7. KEEP THE HOT DRINKS COMING.
Tanner recommends making your tea kettle your new best friend. She digs Hoogly Tea, a British company that makes hygge their business by selling creative tea blends such as Vanilla Chai, Around the Fire, and Marzipan. Not a tea person? Cocoa or coffee will also do the trick.
8. SET THE TABLE.
Time with family or friends, especially while sharing a great meal, is essential to the hygge philosophy, so you’ll need a great dining room table. Danes love a great wooden table and hand-crafted chairs (many will pass down an Arne Jacobsen or a Hans Wegner chair from generation to generation), but any dining room set will do—the important part is spending mealtimes together, says Helen Russell, author of The Year of Living Danishly.
9. SCRUB-A-DUB-DUB, HEAD TO THE TUB.
“Not many people think about the bathroom when they’re making their home cozier, but think about making a more relaxing environment for the next time you take a soothing bath,” Tanner says. You can do this by lighting a few candles and integrating essential oils and bath products with relaxing scents into your routine. Big, fluffy towels and a quality bathmat are also great additions.
10. GET SMART.
Technology is your secret weapon in making your home cozy, says Carly Pokornowski Moeller, owner and registered interior designer at Unpatterned in Chicago. Wireless speakers can help you use music to set the right mood throughout your home. And, Pokornowski Moeller says, adding a total smart home system (like Nest) can allow you to change the temperature or turn off the lights in any room right from your smartphone. This way you can stop running from room to room to adjust and can just be present.
All images courtesy of iStock.
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