Tag: <span>Insulation cell</span>

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Features

• It is a Smart TV which recommends shows, movies, games and other stuffs based on explored and located favorites.
• It also has a built-in Wi-Fi with full web browser and other innovative apps made for TV which allows the viewer to watch while surfing the net, exploring the Smart Hub or even while chatting with family and friends online.
• It can perform downloads and streams of contents from other devices too.
• It has excellent signature services:
• Family Story. Through this signature service, viewers can share pictures of the latest family bonding and special occasions. Family Story allows quick uploads of pictures, even ones from mobile devices, real-time chats and message posting.
• Fitness. This Samsung Smart HDTV can also be a partner in maintaining a healthy lifestyle. With Fitness, workout-savvies can exercise to their hearts’ content through the video-on-demand service, manage their calisthenics history and even monitor their development by downloading the exercise app on their cell phones.
• Kids Story. It recommends child-friendly programming and games which will educate the child and the whole family in an entertaining way.
• Wide Color Enhancer Plus displays colors as they are in the eyes of a movie director.
• AllShare Play provides sharing of content across DNLA-connected Samsung gadgets and gizmos without the need for internet cables or connections.
• ConnectShare Movie allows enjoying on the Led TV the movies and videos saved on a flash drive by simply plugging the drive into the TV’s USB port.

Pros

• The picture quality is superb. The colors are alive, the lighting is more even and the blacks are truly shown but without sacrificing the details of small bright objects on dark backgrounds.
• It has great connectivity options, what with the Wifi, the three HDMI ports (most units of its kind only have two), and the two USB ports.
• It is light and easy to move around.
• It looks good with or without a stand.

Cons

• The screen tends to be semi-glossy, leading reflections to be seen on the screen when the scenes are dark. Positioning the Led TV in the room can be painstaking due to the said reflections.
• There may be a need for support in the sound system. Dialogues can be hardly heard when there is heavy base background music, but when there is added base on the dialogue, the background music is overpowered.
• Some of the important settings seem to be unclear.
• It is not thinner than most

All in all, the Samsung UN32EH5300 32-Inch 1080p 60 Hz LED HDTV (Black) is great for the home. Whether it is the kids or the grownups, watching is not only a viewing experience in this Led TV.

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Source by Dang Thao Le

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Fats along with proteins and carbohydrates, are one of the three nutrients used as energy sources by the body. The energy produced by fats is 9 calories per gram. Proteins and carbohydrates each provide 4 calories per gram. Total fat; the sum of saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. Intake of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats can help reduce blood cholesterol when substituted for saturated fats in the diet. A slang term for obese or adipose. In chemistry, a compound formed from chemicals called fatty acids. These fats are greasy, solid materials found in animal tissues and Fats are the major component of the flabby material of a body, commonly known as blubber.

As strange as it sounds, eating fat can actually help you lose weight. Not only that, your memory and your immune system will benefit from eating fat. It is an extremely bad idea to eliminate fat completely from your diet. “Good” fats are absolutely essential. These good fats come from things like Enova Oil, canola oil, extra virgin olive oil, flax seed, almonds, walnuts and cold-water fish. Eating the right kind of fat and getting rid of the wrong kind is what is needed.

Key Functions of Fat

We need some fat – it makes up part of our brains, it protects some of our joints and it provides reserves for when we’re sick – but it slips down so effortlessly, it’s easy to overindulge.

• Fat provides needed energy.  It is difficult to eat the large amounts of food in a very low fat diet to get all the energy you need.
• Fat is needed so your body can absorb the fat soluble vitamins A, S, E, K, and prevent deficiencies of these vitamins.
• Provides back-up energy if blood sugar supplies run out (after 4-6 hours without food).
• Provides insulation under the skin from the cold and the heat.
• Protects organs and bones from shock and provides support for organs.
• Fat surrounds and insulates nerve fibers to help transmit nerve impulses.
• Fat is part of every cell membrane in the body.  It helps transport nutrients and metabolites across cell membranes.
• Your body uses fat to make a variety of other building blocks needed for everything from hormones to immune function.  

What happens if we don’t have enough fat?

• Dry, scaly skin
• Hair loss
• Low body weight
• Cold intolerance
• Bruising
• Poor growth
• Lower resistance to infection
• Poor wound healing
• Loss of menstruation

Food Sources of Fat

High intakes of fat contribute to becoming overweight; being overweight increases the chance of developing a number of diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure.

  Not only do we need to restrict the amount of fat, but we also need to consider what type of fat is restricted, as different types of fat have different effects on blood cholesterol levels and heart health.

Food contains a mixture of three types of fat; polyunsaturated, monounsaturated and saturated fats.  One type of fat usually dominates in a food for example, butter is mainly saturated fat and olive oil is mainly monounsaturated.  All fats contain approximately the same amount of kilojoules or energy and if eaten in large amounts will lead weight gain.  

• Polyunsaturated Fats – lowers blood cholesterol and encourages heart health – Good food sources are; Vegetable oils such as safflower, soy bean, sunflower, corn, Wheat germ, wholegrain cereals and breads, Polyunsaturated margarines, Fish oils, naturally present in fish, Seeds and most nuts.
• Omega-3 fats are a type of polyunsaturated fat found mainly in oily fish (eg salmon, mackerel, sardines, herrings), canola oil, flaxseed oil (linseed oil) and walnut oil. These fats help to reduce blood clotting, blood pressure and blood fat levels. 
• Monounsaturated Fats – do not raise blood cholesterol and encourages heart health – Good food source are; Avocados, peanuts, peanut oil and peanut butter, Olive oil, olives and olive oil-based margarines, Canola oil and monounsaturated table spread, Almond and hazelnuts.
• Saturated Fats – raise blood cholesterol and promote heart disease – These are the ones to reduce or avoid Major food sources are; Dairy fats such as butter, clarified butter, cultured butter, butter/margarine mix, Milk homogenised or full cream, Hard cheeses, cream cheese, sour cream, ice cream and cream, Meat fats such as lard, dripping, suet, beef tallow and chefade, White visible fat on beef, mutton, lamb, pork, poultry, Processed meat, e.g. luncheon, salami, most sausages, tinned corned beef, fatty mince pies and pates, Tropical oils such as coconut, coconut cream, palm oil and kremelta.
• Trans Fats are the other type of fat that can raise your cholesterol level just like saturated fats – Trans fats can be formed when vegetable fats are processed in certain ways.  Some polyunsaturated fats are converted to trans fats when vegetable oils are chemically harden to make it spreadable such as margarine.  This process is called ‘hydrogenation’. These fats may be found listed in the food ingredients on packaged foods as vegetable fat, baking margarine and vegetable shortening.  Foods containing this fat include pastries, biscuits, crackers, muesli bars, commercial cakes and muffins.  

Daily Usage of Fats

We all need some fat in our diets. In fact, it’s virtually impossible to have a fat-free diet as most foods, even fruit and veg, provide small amounts of fat. As well as providing the body with a concentrated source of energy, certain components of fat are essential parts of our body cells and are needed to make hormones. Fat also helps to insulate our body and small amounts around the major organs have a protective effect. Several vitamins (vitamins A, D, E and K) are also fat-soluble and tend to be found in foods with a high fat content. Very low fat intakes mean that intakes of these vitamins, in turn, are often extremely low, too.

The Department of Health recommends that no more than a third of calories come from this nutrient, while most weight loss plans rarely recommend less than 20% of calories come from fat.

Nutritional Safety

Some people do not do well if their diet is too high in fat, regardless of what type. They will develop a slow metabolism, constipation, lethargy, and skewed cholesterol levels if they eat too much fat. These people do best with a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and whole grain foods.

Very few fats are bad in and of themselves. Trans fat is an oil that has been chemically manipulated to be more solid. It has been found to be particularly harmful to the arteries and is not recommended at any level in the diet. The lower the better on this one!

Usually it is the proportion of fat that is the problem. Recently it has been found that a diet with too much omega-6 fat and not enough omega-3 fat leads to inflammation and suppression of the immune system. So balancing these fats is very important.

Too much fat in your diet puts you at risk for Obesity,Coronary Artery Disease ,High Cholesterol, Myocardial Infarction and Hypertension.

My next article entitled “The Function of Vitamin A in our Life” will examine the role of Vitamin A in good nutrition.

See you on the Beaches of the World,

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Source by Kevin McNabb

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To be fast you must be lean. Cheetahs, the fastest animals on earth, can reach speeds of 70 M.P.H. But only because they are very lean. The same principle applies to humans. It’s easy to observe that the athletes winning the races are very lean.

In general, for given muscle power and leg speed, the lighter the load, the faster the speed. Athletes with a higher percentage of body fat will run slower than they could run if they were leaner. But how does one become leaner?

There are many different opinions on this subject, some not helpful, some even dangerous. The following review of a few food facts and new research reveals sensible, safe ways for an athlete to become leaner and stronger.

First, some basic food facts:

There are three basic food groups:

1) Proteins build muscles, organs, bones, enzymes, immune cells and many hormones.

2) Carbohydrates are fuel for immediate use.

3) Fats provide insulation, cushioning and calorie storage and help build cell membranes and some hormones.

All foods can be converted to fat if you eat too much of them. Excess carbohydrates, proteins and fats will make you fat. A little known fact is that most of the proteins that we eat are turned into carbohydrates and used for fuel or stored as fat. For example, 83% of any whey and soy proteins that are eaten are not used to build body protein, but as carbohydrates.

Here’s why:

The protein in food is made up of amino acids strung together like beads on a chain. When a protein food source is digested, the amino acids are released and absorbed in the small intestine. Some of these amino acids can then be used as building blocks that are recombined to build the required proteins for the body. Only amino acids that are available in the correct proportions can be used to build body protein.

How much of the protein that is digested and absorbed is used to build body proteins?

That depends on the source of the protein. Most people think that if they eat 30 grams of protein that all of those 30 grams will be used by their body to form new proteins or to replace the proteins that are naturally lost each day. This isn’t actually what happens.

Each protein source is made up of different amounts of individual amino acids. Each protein source has a different percentage of its amino acids that can be used to build body protein.

A chicken breast (raw, boneless and skinless) is about 23 percent protein. Therefore 3 oz (85 g) of chicken breast would contain about 19.5 grams of protein. (In a healthy individual, about 2-8% of the protein is indigestible, leaving at least 18 grams of digestible protein.) What is important to realize is that of this 18 grams, only about 30% of it (about 5 grams) is actually “used” by our body to make or synthesize new proteins. The rest (about 13 grams) is broken down and becomes a source of calories.

If you examine whey protein, only 16% of the amino acids are used to build proteins in the body. Therefore 84% of the amino acids are not used to build protein and just become a source of extra calories!

Also it is important to understand that if the amino acids in a protein source or an amino acid formula are not used, in addition to releasing calories, harmful nitrogen waste is released which must be eliminated by the body. (Excess nitrogen waste can stress the liver and kidneys, especially as we age.)

Although all of the food groups (fat, protein and carbohydrates) can be used as an energy source, only protein can provide the essential amino acids required to build body protein. (Carbohydrates are the preferred source of energy for the body.)

So how do you get a lean body?

First. Use carbohydrates prudently. Except during heavy training, avoid products containing high fructose corn syrup. Instead of consuming sports bars and drinks with high fructose corn syrup, eat natural and unprocessed foods, including fruits and starchy vegetables.

Second. Avoid all refined grains (white flour, white rice and most baked goods). They are poor food sources for everyone.

Third. A void most processed foods and “fast” foods. Read food labels. If additives, preservatives, colorants, chemicals, flavorings, seasonings, etc., are listed, pass them by.

Fourth. A void all foods with trans fats, deep fried foods and margarine.

In general, eat mostly healthy, natural, unprocessed foods: fruits, vegetables, fish, nuts, non-processed meats, beans, and eggs. Eat like our cave man ancestors. (Eliminate sugar and processed foods.)

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Source by Dr. David Minkoff

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New buildings are constructed using thermalite blocks, making it more difficult to simply attach TV wall brackets to the walls. Thermalite blocks are used in constructions that do not require heavy cement blocks but still prefer using blocks instead of wood. The closed air cell structure provides good thermal insulation making it cooler in summer and warmer in winter, resulting in less energy used and less insulation materials. It can also withstand fires of high temperatures. A thermalite block is very light and can be held in one hand. Once plastered on the wall, it is hard to differentiate it from a concrete block. However, it is noticeable when drilling into the wall. The material is so soft any drill bit can make a hole through it. Drilling a hole in an exact position is hard as the drill can wander off tangent due to the softness. This will affect screwing the TV brackets onto the wall. You should drill very slowly and carefully to ensure the holes are straight. You can attach the wall brackets using universal plugs with two-inch screws on the concrete. Universal plugs do not need hammer action when drilling the hole.

When drilling the holes, start with a small hole, and enlarge the holes slowly until the plugs fit exactly in the hole. If your TV wall bracket is fitted with a tilting facility, or mounts flat on the wall, and your TV is less than thirty kilograms, you can drill the holes on the wall, insert the plugs and screw it tightly. Be careful when tightening the screws as too much pressure could make the thermolite blocks loosen along the sides of the screws within the block. The TV wall bracket can sustain the weight of the TV but the thermolite block might eventually loosen and give way to the weight of the TV wall bracket and television. This becomes more risky when attaching a cantilever motion TV bracket where you can swing the TV out from off the wall. The leverage and movement of the TV can be absorbed by the wall brackets but the themolite wall could give in on the added strain.

You can use special thermolite fixings to ensure the TV brackets are firmly secured to the wall. It is done by inserting special epoxy glue into the drill hole before the screw, and the glue penetrates the block to form a strong fixing. As you enter the screw into the hole, the epoxy helps bond the screws to the cement, making for a firmer grip. You will notice that as the screws enter the hole, the excess epoxy will form around the external surroundings of the hole providing additional support to the plate. Some people recommend applying epoxy glue, regardless of the material, to ensure the screws and metal plate of the TV bracket are firmly secured in place. It minimizes the danger of the TV bracket being torn out of the wall. Use the epoxy glue that is appropriate to the material it is being applied on. It may cost slightly more and there may be more time and effort spent applying the glue but you minimize the risk of having the TV and wall bracket falling off the wall.

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Source by Dean Bourne

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Common Soundproofing Materials and How to Soundproof a Room

What is everything for? There are many different materials used in sound proofing. Some of these materials are readily available and fairly affordable. Others are proprietary and have “hidden” specifications and/or design characteristics and are usually expensive. Beware, it is often the expensive proprietary materials which also come with the most outrageous claims. In reality it is possible to achieve good soundproofing with readily available and inexpensive materials if you know what you are doing.

How much does it all cost? It is very difficult to put a budget on soundproofing. There are a lot of variables like where you will be purchasing your materials from, how much material you will need, the sort of surface that you be working on and so forth. If you are doing it yourself, perhaps a rule of thumb is total cost will be twice the price (per square foot or square metre) of the main material which you are using. In other words if you are using a material which is $5 per square foot you might want to budget $10 per square foot to do the job. Obviously the second $5 goes towards other components of the soundproofing. This is just a very rough rule of thumb and it assumes that you are not factoring in any labour costs.

Which ones do I really need? A quantity of a material is considered to be cost effective if it offers a good measure of soundproofing at a relatively low price compared to other materials or compared to a greater quantity of the same material. So there is every chance that you might have heard of a perfectly good soundproofing material which is not discussed here. If you were to put together a basic list of soundproofing materials it might include the following:

• Drywall/plasterboard and possibly mass loaded vinyl
• Flexible acoustical caulking & a caulking gun
• Laminated glass
• Solid core doors
• Resilient fixings e.g. furring channels
• Basic timber frames

Which soundproofing materials are the easiest to work with? Unfortunately most soundproofing techniques and materials require a bit of effort. The secret to success is to take your time and to read as much as you can about best practice installation. For example plasterboard (drywall) installation is fairly straightforward if you do it recipe style. On the other hand if you try to make it up as you go along you will probably create an unsightly mess. Again the materials and techniques presented here are the ones which are considered to be suitable for DIYers while also effective for relatively inexpensive soundproofing.

Which soundproofing materials are the most effective? The effectiveness of a material or technique will very much depend on the quality of the installation. The key things to watch for are:

• Avoid any rigid fixings like screws and nails and use resilient mountings wherever possible.
• Ensure everything is airtight.
• Pay particular attention to any joints and ensure that they are properly caulked.
• Ask yourself what will happen to the effectiveness of your soundproofing system at any edges or junctions.
• Is it possible for sound to “flank” or travel around your newly constructed barrier?
• Sometimes you will need a strategy to deal with this “flanking noise”.
• The easiest flanking strategy is to continue the soundproofing technique beyond the edges of the surface in question onto the adjoining surface eg ceiling to wall and vice versa.

The theoretical effectiveness of a material is usually presented as a sound absorption or sound reduction measure, also expressed as sound transmission and noise reduction classes (NRC & STC). There are many tables available with these measures for all sorts of materials. The purists will tell you that these figures mean totally different things and should not be interchanged. This is true but in many ways it is not something the DIYer should be concerned about. Here is a quick way to interpret the figures: over 30 for good individual materials and over 50 for a good complete soundproofing system.

If a material is a sound absorber like fibreglass batt insulation or open cell soundproofing foam, try to place it near the source of the sound, not in the room receiving the noise. If you can only work in the room receiving the noise pollution then stick to sound barriers, also known as sound reflectors. Note that fibreglass insulation is a poor sound barrier (low STC) but has a good noise reduction coefficient (NRC) when used at the source of the noise. It is important to keep the terms “noise source” and “receiving” and “absorption” and “barrier” top of mind when you review the comments on the materials below.

If the material is clearly a rigid or dense material then the comments are likely to be referring to its performance as a sound barrier placed in the room receiving the noise pollution. If the material is porous, flexible, or of quite low density then the comments are likely to be referring to the material as a sound absorber placed near the source of the noise.

Naturally there are a number of exceptions to these descriptions. Below are some examples of absorbers and barriers. Clearly many materials are hybrids and have both characteristics.

Obviously you will be shopping for inexpensive materials with good noise reduction properties whether as barriers or absorbers. You might find an expensive material which is being dumped at a good price or you might live in a part of the world where a material is in ready supply and so is less expensive. Be a little bit lateral when you start shopping and planning.

Another important consideration is the frequency of the sound that you are trying to attenuate. Generally most materials perform more poorly for lower frequency sounds like drums or boom cars or stereo subwoofers. If the sound is low-frequency try to use more dense and or thicker materials. Again as a rule of thumb if you always prepare your designs for low-frequency soundproofing you will invariably solve your high-frequency soundproofing issues as well.

Absorbers

1) Rolls of building Insulation

As expected building insulation is a very good sound absorber at the source of the noise. The thicker and more dense mineral products are superior. Performance can be improved by introducing an air space in the total design of the soundproofing and also by using insulating materials with a lining – where the lining faces the sound source. Building insulation tends to be more effective for soundproofing around the frequency of human voice. The most cost effective thickness for roll insulation is probably 3 1/2 inches or just under 9 centimetres.

2) Batts

As for rolls of building insulation.

3) Rigid fibreglass sheets & ceiling board

Again generally the thicker the board the more effective it is. Probably the most cost-effective thickness for fibreglass board is around 2 inches or 5 cm. Interestingly fibreglass boards with facings seem to perform less well than fibreglass boards without facings. In other words avoid the added expense of faced boards.

4) Form board for roofs

Two to 3 kg density fibreglass form board of only 1 inch thickness is easy to handle and performs very well if you are able to obtain it at a good price.

5) Ceiling boards

Painted perforated and fissured mineral ceiling board is easy to handle and performs reasonably well at around 2 cm thickness. The best soundproofing is achieved with cast rough texture mineral ceiling board. Note: wood fibre ceiling boards do not perform particularly well. Foam sheets/tiles and soundproof foam ceiling boards perform quite well as absorbers when they are one or 2 inches thick. At this thickness they perform almost as well as the mineral ceiling board, but are clearly much easier to handle. Mineral ceiling board probably has better barrier qualities though.

6) Wall panels

For the general principles relating to wall panels see the comments on ceiling boards.

7) Floor coverings

Carpets are only good soundproofers if they are used as absorbers. A lot of their effectiveness comes from reducing impact noise. So for example you might put down carpet mostly to reduce the sound of footsteps on a timber floor and to dampen some of the airborne noise in the room. There are specialised underlays which can be placed beneath carpets or floating floors. These need to be properly selected and you should ask for very clear sound transmission performance data and additional data on impact noise performance.

8) Brick

People are usually surprised to learn that bricks are sound absorbers rather than sound barriers. They are even more surprised to discover that brick is a relatively poor sound absorber. Notions of very quiet brick homes usually come from older double brick construction were an air cavity between the two skins of brick contributes significantly to the overall soundproofing effectiveness.

9) Other

There are arguments around about whether materials like plywood, drywall and glass are absorbers or barriers. Here they are referred to as barriers and they are outlined in the next section. Do not worry about the various proprietary laminates of absorbers they are not worth the money. Moreover you will usually get a better effect if you purchase the two layers un-cemented and install them separated by a few inches of airspace and perhaps secured by some sort of resilient fixing. The small airspace between two absorbers seems to add quite noticeably to soundproofing performance. Spray on cellulose can be a useful absorber however there is no guarantee of what you will be getting or how thick it will be. Properly applied it can be an excellent material to use in roof cavities for thermal and acoustic insulation. It can be sprayed directly onto the underside of the roof board or shingles or tiles.

Barriers

1) Glass & Acrylic sheets

These options perform about the same at equal thicknesses. The most cost effective thickness being around of an inch or just over 6mm. Rather than using thicker material it is advised that you create a sealed air cavity between a couple of sheets of the material.

2) Plywood

Plywood is not quite as effective as drywall but is obviously stronger and less fragile. The most cost effective thickness for plywood is probably half inch or about 13mm.

3) Drywall, Gypsum board or Plasterboard

The performance of drywall does not seem to improve very much between 1/2 inch and 5/8th inch thickness, so the most cost-effective thickness is obviously half inch. When you use multiple layers of drywall it’s important to secure them with some form of resilient fixing, this considerably improves the soundproofing characteristics.

4) Mass Loaded Vinyl (MLV) & Fiberglass Reinforced Plastic Panels (FRP)

MLV & FRP are highly effective and easy to use products as they can have a thickness of only a fraction of an inch. The downside is that they can sometimes be expensive. A roll of MLV with a density of 1 pound per square foot or about 5kg per square metre is as effective as half inch drywall and 1/8th inch (3mm) FRP. If you can buy MLV or FRP at about the same price as drywall you might consider using them instead. You could even consider using MLV or FRP behind a second layer of drywall to create super soundproofing without increasing the thickness of the wall too much.

5) Concrete Panel

This is not really an option for most DIYers however if you are looking at buying an apartment make sure the walls are at least 4 inches of concrete plus drywall or 6 inches of concrete if it is an unfinished surface. Six inches plus drywall finishing should give you the same soundproofing as a double brick and cavity construction.

6) Laminated Products

Again there is little justification for purchasing laminated products. For about the same cost, better performance can be achieved using the individual components resiliently mounted with a small air cavity.

Do You need to buy any special proprietary products? The simple answer to this is no. You will come across lots of advertisements for groundbreaking scientific innovations in soundproofing. It’s possible that one day something will be invented that will be inexpensive and highly effective but for the moment most proprietary products perform no better than readily available combinations of inexpensive materials.

An important note on resilient channels: Having said that it is not essential to buy proprietary products, the resilient Channel is probably one material that you should select more carefully and which may be worth restricting to specific brands. You should look for a product made from 25 gauge steel ideally with some form of STC guarantee. Channels can have one or two legs and usually have slits or cut outs along their length, these are design characteristics which add to the resilience of a material.

When installing resilient furring channel on a wall, if it is the type with an open flange, face the flange upward so that it is pulled away from the frame slightly when the wallboard is attached. Point all the flanges in the same direction whether on a wall or ceiling. Take great care when installing the wallboard to the channels so that you do not “short out” the channel by screwing too far through the channel and into the timber behind.

Published by Craig Williams (2012)

EzineArticles Expert Author

For more information on inexpensive home soundproofing visit http://www.SoundProofingSecrets.com

(May be reproduced with author acknowledgment and attached URLs.)

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Source by Craig R Williams

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The anatomy of a tree would truly interest even the most apathetic person. That is because trees are complex parts of nature that provide an infinite list of benefits and an even larger amount of value! There are thousands of tree species in the world, all in different shapes, sizes, colors, yields, and more. But one thing they all have in common: a trunk. All trees, both deciduous and coniferous, have a tree trunk in some form or another. And one of the most interesting facts about tree trunks is that they have 5 different layers! Continue reading to learn more about each layer of tree trunk and the purpose they serve.

Tree Trunks

As mentioned, tree trunks have 5 separate layers to them. They are the outer bark, inner bark (phloem), the cambium cell layer, sapwood, and heartwood. Each layer has their very own purpose, but overall, the trunk’s primary job is to protect and support the tree. Look below to review each layer and what they do.

Outer Bark:

Like a shield, a trunk’s outer bark is there to protect the tree from its outside surroundings, including inclement weather, wildlife, pests, and more. It also controls moisture, by both preventing excess moisture in the rain and snow, and retaining sufficient moisture levels during dry seasons. It also provides insulation in cold weather and protects against sunburn in the summer.

Phloem (Inner Bark):

The phloem, or inner layer of bark, is where food and nutrients are passed through the tree. This layer has a very important job, but a very short lifespan. It eventually dies, turns to cork, and becomes part of the outer layer of bark!

Cambium Cell Layer:

The cambium cell layer is interesting because it is the part of the trunk that grows. Each year, this layer produces more bark and wood as a reaction to the hormones being passed down from the leaves along the food pipeline. These hormones are called auxins, and they are very important because they stimulate new cell growth!

Sapwood:

Sapwood is new wood, and serves an important role as the tree’s water pipeline, delivering water to the entire tree. And as new sapwood is created, the inner cells lose their vigor and turn to heartwood.

Heartwood:

Heartwood is the most inner part of the trunk. It plays an important role in balance, stability, and security for a tree. Technically, heartwood is dead, but it does not atrophy or decay (unless the outer layers are jeopardized). It is made up of a hollow, needle-like cellulose fibers that are joined together by a glue-like chemical called lignin.

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Source by Sarahbeth Kluzinski

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Do you realize that we have different types of fat in our bodies and they each have different properties? White fat, which is what tends to stretch your pants to their limits and spill over your waistband, stores energy. No surprise there. You also have some brown fat, which gets its color from its iron content. Brown fat also contains more mitochondria, which are known as “the powerhouse of the cell.” You can think of them as the “engines” in brown fat that burn calories and generate heat.

So while the white fat becomes insulation of sorts, the brown fat is active. Babies have a lot of brown fat. Most adults have varying amounts but not that much. Leaner people tend to have a greater amount of it than heavier people but whether that is genetic or not isn’t known.

According to one study, 15 minutes in the cold just could be the metabolic equivalent of an hour of exercise. Researchers, in this study, observed healthy men and women as they exercised in a 65°F lab. Later those same study participants lay on a bed as the temperature fell to 53°F. In both of those tests these people’s muscles contracted (they were shivering!), released the hormone irisin, which is produced in skeletal muscle. This hormone raises body heat and creates brown fat cells from existing white fat cells.

This finding puzzled the researchers. They speculated that since the ancient biological survival mechanism of shivering, which is prompted by cold, helps us maintain our core temperature, preventing hypothermia, perhaps it would stimulate irisin release. They designed tests to find out if shivering rather than exercise was the primary driver of irisin secretion. Turns out irisin is produced by muscle contractions. So whether by exercise or shivering, doesn’t really matter. Once it’s produced, it circulates through the blood changing white fat cells into brown ones.

What is encouraging about this information is that researchers found that the response to cold exposure can be activated even by very minimal changes in temperature. In this study they demonstrated that just by lowering the thermostat from 74°F to 68°F was sufficient to generate a measurable increase in energy expenditure. Thirty seconds of cold water on your upper back and neck after a hot shower, if you have no heart issues, is also a simple way to accomplish this.

Or perhaps just continue staying active and exercising, lower your thermostat just a little bit and get out in the brisk winter weather a little each day for a walk (properly dressed of course) to get the benefit of some colder air and hopefully some sunshine as well.

Another study found that curcumin, the active compound in turmeric, is capable of inducing browning of white fat cells. Besides its anti-inflammatory properties, this research indicates that curcumin seems to be an anti-obesity agent due to its ability to support brown fat as well as by reducing inflammation, which is implicated in obesity as well as diabetes and heart disease. This is a huge finding.

There are numerous ways you can add turmeric to your meals as well as taking it in supplement form or even drinking it as a tea, thereby taking advantage of its many benefits, including stimulating brown fat.

These are some simple ways to stimulate and support activation of your fat burning brown fat. Choose the method that is appropriate for you and in the process reap these health benefits.

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Source by Ann Musico

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Adipose tissue is a specialized connective tissue in the body which is the major storehouse of energy in the form of triglycerides deposition. Adipose is usually found in mammals as two different forms such as white and brown adipose tissues. Depending upon the species of mammals the amount and location of the tissue varies. Most of the fat tissues fall under the white category which is located in various organs and various parts in the body.

In human beings, this tissue is found at multiple locations; it is located beneath the skin as subcutaneous fat, surrounding internal organs as visceral fat, inside bones as bone marrow or yellow bone marrow and also in breast. Specific locations of such layers are referred to as adipocytes depots. These depots are a reservoir of adipose tissue that contains several cell types; the highest percentage of cells is adipocytes that contain fat droplets. Some other cells including fibroblasts, macrophages and endothelial cells are also a part of this tissue along with a number of tiny blood vessels. As the integument system includes the skin that accumulates in the deepest level of the subcutaneous layer, adipose tissue is formed beneath the skin and provides insulation to the body from heat and cold.

It acts as a protective padding around all vital organs in the body. Though its major function is to reserve lipids, it also acts as the main source of energy by synthesizing lipids to fulfill the needs of the individual. Obese persons are seen with more amount of adipose in their body. Excessive tissues are seen hanging downward from the abdomen and also known as a panniculus. Sometimes to remove such fats, surgeries are needed. The abdomen has a layer of adipocytes known as visceral and intra abdominal fat. The internal fat protects stomach, liver, intestines and kidneys by forming protective layers inside the body. Breast fat is also a type of white adipose tissue that helps in formation of milk during pregnancy with help of oxytocin hormone and helps the mother to nourish the infants. In human, excess fats are accumulated in the abdominal, hip and also in the thoracic regions.

In different mammals, adipocytes are also found; in mice they are found inside the abdominal layers and cavity forming several depots inside the body. Even around the uterus and ovaries, it forms a layer of fat filled mass providing protection. Brown adipose tissues are densely packed mitochondria and also found in various locations in mammals. As such tissues are good in vasuclarization, in hibernating animals they help in regulating body temperature through non-shivering thermogenesis.

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Source by Derek Farley

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Body temperature is the result of your body generating and radiating heat. The body is adept at keeping its temperature within a narrow range even though ambient air conditions vary. A normal body temperature is 98.6°F. It is common during the period of rapid weight loss for bariatric patients to feel cold or chilled, even when their temperature reads normal.

People who experience the massive weight loss associated with weight loss surgery experience feeling cold for two reasons: loss of insulation and less energy generation.

Fat is a highly efficient insulator. Consider animals native to cold climates: for example sea lions and polar bears. They are loaded with insulation and thrive in cold climates. When gastric bypass patients follow the rules: eating protein and exercising, the weight lost can only come from fat or stored energy. In effect you are losing your insulation. Less insulation increases the likelihood that you will feel cold.

The second reason for feeling chilled is that the metabolic cell processes are not working as hard as when you were heavier; it takes fewer calories and less energy to maintain and move a smaller body. Think about using an electric mixer: if you are whipping egg whites for a meringue the mixer will do this task effortlessly. But use the same mixer to knead bread dough and it will become warm to the touch, it is working harder because it is moving more mass. The same thing happens with your body; the more mass it must move, the harder it works. As a result more heat is generated.

The body has two well-tuned mechanisms for regulating body temperature: sweating and shivering. What overweight person hasn’t been embarrassed by a sticky bout of sweating at the most inappropriate time? Sweating is a mechanism for cooling your body when it becomes too hot inside. The body rids itself of excess heat by expanding the blood vessels in the skin so the heat may be carried to the surface. When this energy or heat in the form of sweat reaches the skin’s surface it evaporates and helps cool the body.

Gastric bypass patients become more familiar with the second temperature regulator, shivering, as they lose weight. When you are too cold your blood vessels will contract reducing blood flow to the skin. The body responds by shivering which creates extra muscle activity to help generate more heat. If you allow your body to shiver it will begin to feel warmer. But this is also a good clue that it’s time to put on a sweater or turn up the heat. I think most weight loss patients will happily wear a sweater – a sweater is much easier to shed than that insulation we’ve worked so hard to lose!

Most weight loss patients report that their body temperature regulates after their weight is stabilized, usually eighteen to twenty-four months after surgery. Keep in mind your body is rapidly losing weight and the rest of your body’s functions are caught off guard when this weight loss begins. The body’s thermostat needs time to catch up to the weight loss, and it will. Patients who incorporate exercise in their weight loss program experience less chilling than patients who do not exercise.

Copyright © 2005 Kaye Bailey – All Rights Reserved

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Source by Kaye Bailey

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The biggest advantage of a brick/steel stud system is that since it is not supporting or carrying the load of the building, the interior structure of a building can be constructed prior to laying brick veneer work without any delay. This allows the building to be closed in independently of the brick work and placed under roof more quickly. Thus, the time consuming interior work that the other building trades have to perform can go ahead on schedule, instead of having to wait on the brick masonry. This also enables the masons to take advantage of the best weather and temperature to lay up the brick in mortar without worrying about the possibility of freezing. This makes the general contractor, subcontractors, and the owners of the building happy!

Another big advantage of this type of wall is that it is highly resistant to moisture because the cavity between the brick and steel studs can be drained efficiently by the use of properly placed flashing and weep holes in the brick work. The cavity between the two walls can also greatly reduce the heat gain or loss through the overall wall. The air space provides a thermal separations between the brick and the steel studs. Brickwork has a high thermal mass, giving it ability to store and slowly release heat over time. This effect, according to current energy codes, provides a higher r-value for a wall of this type. Rigid board closed-cell type insulation can also be placed inside the cavity area to prevent additional thermal loss.

FOUNDATION FOR A BRICK VENEER/STEEL STUD WALL

Although some building codes permit the support of brick veneer on wood foundations, it is highly recommended that the wall be supported by concrete or masonry foundations. The brick work may extend below finished grade if it is built properly to minimize water penetration. Specially designed metal ties should be used to anchor or tie the brick veneer to the steel studs. Regular corrugated metal ties are not permitted when brick veneer is tied to metal studs. They should be spaced vertically every 16 inches in height and be 32 inches apart horizontally. They should also be well-embedded in the mortar bed joints. It is very important that the back assembly of the tie that holds it be securely attached to the steel stud itself and not just the sheathing, so that they do not pull out! Well filled mortar joints and good workmanship are of particular importance.

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Source by Marcin Gajda