The Excellent Tradition of Stamps Philately Collecting

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Stamps philately collectors, stamp collecting enthusiasts, and philatelists take so much interest in stamps because of the interesting story told by each stamp, and even by each stamp issue. Stamps offer a wide variety of options for collectors, and each individual collector can make a choice over categories when starting to collect.

Many stamps philately enthusiasts opt to collect state quarters and stamps. These usually comprise of an attractive layout of around four stamps, which feature a state and its quarters, in a commemorative folio. State quarters and stamps pose very little challenge to a collector as they are oven ready, so to speak, almost ready for display and storage as they arrive.

Whilst many collectors prefer to simply collect the stamps themselves, many others opt to collect non-stamp collectibles, like stamp lapels, or miniature mailboxes. Historic events or people are often commemorated with stamp lapels. These are pins issued by a particular company or country in connection with that event or person. The lapel would usually contain a stamp that features the specific theme. Another popular non stamp collectible are miniature mailboxes. These are sold at the USPS Postal Store, are small tabletop USPS mailboxes that can be used to contain a small amount of stamps.

The majority of stamps philately collectors start by collecting the basic element itself; the postage stamps themselves. The definition of a postage stamp is stamps used as proof of payment for the service rendered by a postal office to deliver your card, letter or parcel to a specific destination. By definition, the proof of payment for this service is the stamp itself. Stamps have been collected throughout the world, ever since they were first used in postal services. They are popular as used or in brand new condition.

Comments (0) Jan 26 2009

Cunard Cruise Lines

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Cunard Cruise Lines has been defining luxury in cruises for over one hundred and fifty years. Cunard is always at the head of the list for its world cruises, and deservedly so. They specialize in world cruises and draw many of their passengers from Great Britain. Three spectacular ships lead the Cunard Cruise Line family. The ship Queen Mary 2 is the only ship which has consistently scheduled transatlantic voyages. The Queen Elizabeth 2 has forty years in service, and in 2008 is celebrating her farewell season. In 2010 a new Queen Elizabeth will be introduced. The final jewel in the Cunard Cruise Lines tiara is the Queen Victoria, the newest addition to the Cunard family. Cunard has recently been recognized by Porthole Cruise magazine in their 10th annual readers choice awards. Cunard got top honors in Best World Cruise Itineraries and Best Transatlantic Crossings.

My review of Our Cunard Cruise Our Cunard Cruise was a large group affair, and a sensation carnival prevailed. We left from London and joined the Queen Victoria in Barcelona. Upon check in at the ship, there was a bit of a wait, perhaps 30 minutes, but admittedly about 10 minutes of that was part of our large group. Once we were sent on through, we were able to get settled in our cabins with complete ease, and had spectacular assistance from the porters in this area. We were experienced at cruising and had over a dozen cruises Royal Carribean between us as a group.

The cabins were extremely nice, and were rather larger than we had even imagined. Having been on 6 cruises myself, I can say that these cabins were larger and better situated than those I have had on other cruise lines. My aunt has herself been a lifelong cruiser and says that Cunard has the nicest cabins, and her cabin with a balcony was really beautiful, and I would love to have one for the next time.

The food was absolutely amazing; I cannot complement the food enough. Night or day, you can literally get anything imaginable and it will be amazing quality, and fresh. Cunard does not publish the recommended gratuity levels as some other lines do, and in situations such as those involving stewards. To add a tipping guideline would be a welcome addition.

For excursions Cunard really shines. It is rare to find an excursion while cruising that is made simple and easy, but Cunard has done it. Our group was considering skipping the Monaco excursion, purely because it can be such mayhem. However, the employees made it absolutely simple to board the launch together and enjoy an absolutely lovely day in a very beautiful city.

Cunard also helped a great deal when it was time for us to board our flight home. We knew we would have a long wait in Rome at the airport, but thought it could not be avoided, as most cruise lines want you to check out by 10 am or so. Cunard told us we ( the group flying to Britain) were welcome to stay on board and eat, and enjoy the ship until closer to our departure time and that was wonderful. My whole family appreciated it, especially the elderly members who would prefer to wait in comfort rather than a crazy crowded Italian airport. Our entire group will choose Cunard again for our next cruise, and we could not be more pleased with the overall experience. Cunard Cruise Lines has been defining luxury in cruises for over one hundred and fifty years. Cunard is always at the head of the list for its world.

Comments (0) Jan 26 2009

Colon Cancer - Does Wheat Bran Reduce the Risk?

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K-State, Wichita State collaborative research studies wheat bran from different wheat varieties, effect on suppressing colon cancer

MANHATTAN — We’ve heard the conflicting information: Wheat bran can reduce the risk of colon cancer in humans; wheat bran does not reduce the risk in humans.

But which one is true?

Both, sort of.

In the mid-1990s, grain science nutritionists at Kansas State University discovered that bran from one variety of wheat actually suppressed cancer in laboratory tests, while bran from another wheat variety did not.

According to Ronald Madl, director of bioprocessing and industrial value added programs with K- State’s department of grain science and industry, the confusion set in because the resulting medical literature really did not appreciate the genetic diversity in wheat — that not all wheat bran is the same.

“As a consequence, medical literature that followed the initial work sometimes said that wheat bran did suppress cancer,” Madl said. “Other medical literature said it did not suppress cancer.”

In a cooperative effort that picked up where that previous research left off, Madl and other researchers from K-State — including Carol Klopfenstein, professor emeritus of grain science and industry, Delores Takemoto, professor of biochemistry, and Weiqun Wang, assistant professor of human nutrition — joined with John Carter, associate professor of physical therapy at Wichita State, and discovered the diversity of phytochemicals in wheat bran. They tested about 120 varieties, all with different levels of antioxidants, from very high to very low. Further studies showed wheat bran with a higher antioxidant content demonstrated a potential to suppress cancer cells.

Madl said in subsequent testing on human cancer cells, the bran from high antioxidant wheat varieties either actually killed some of the cancer cells or stopped their growth; the medium and low antioxidant varieties had less of or no effect — the cancer cells kept growing like normal.

Further testing has shown that wheat high in antioxidants demonstrated a significant suppression in both size and number of tumors, while intermediate levels of wheat antioxidants experienced an intermediate level of cancer activity.

“Since then, we have been trying to move this research to the next stage, understanding which particular compounds are responsible for this benefit,” Madl said. “Antioxidant activity is expressed by a lot of chemical compounds, but that doesn’t mean that all antioxidants express that same beneficial, biological effect. Now, we’re trying to determine which antioxidants are actually responsible for cancer suppression.”

Madl said K-State wheat breeders would like to enhance the levels of antioxidants in wheat.

“The long-term opportunity is that we could produce new wheat varieties with higher levels of antioxidants, and then carry out research to show that these varieties can reduce cancer risk,” he said.

Madl said that once researchers have determined the wheat bran varieties with enhanced levels of antioxidants, clinical studies could be considered for humans to demonstrate if wheat bran could reduce the risk of colon cancer.

Madl said K-State research is currently focused on testing methodology. Development of more rapid screening methods for antioxidants in wheat could make the screening process for wheat breeders, as well as making the wheat selection process for food processors, quicker and more feasible.

Reproduced with permission.

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Comments (0) Jan 26 2009