Milk in Nepal and India: the difference!

-
Image
 I have observed that whenever milk ferments when I am in India, the paneer or cottage cheese does not come out easily. Even if I boil it and add lime juice to it, the cheese formed is quite little and more powdery than cheesy.  But when the same happens in Nepal, the cheese formation is immediate, dense and cheesy. I do not have to do more efforts to get cottage cheese out of the milk in Nepal. What is the reason? I checked internet and found some factors that can affect the quality and amount of cheese  1. Freedom from pathogenic bacteria - Good cheese forms of milk is free from pathogenic bacteria. Differences between Nepali vs Indian panipuri  2. Different milk quality with different amounts of fats and proteins  3. Ultra-pasteurization can destroy vital enzymes and bacteria that are required for cheese formation  4. If temperature of milk is less when it ferments, cheese formation will be less.  5. If milk is rancid, it means it's fats are also br...
Post a Comment

Face masks lessen the disease severity in the wearer and is beneficial for herd immunity!

-

Until now, it was assumed and studies also showed that wearing face masks helps prevent viral spread to others around you. It protects others and benefits them. And now scientists are speculating that it also minorly helps the wearer. It lessens the dose of the virus reaching the wearer and hence the sickness could be less severe in them. 

Face masks and prevention of the viral spread

Face masks are mandatory in public places because studies revealed that once face masks are on, it prevents the spread of the virus from the wearer to others. Hence others around are protected. Its role in benefiting the wearer was doubtful. 

Face masks [Source: Healthline]

But now scientists are speculating that the viral load reaching the wearer from an infected person or an asymptomatic viral carrier could be less. This would translate into a less serious illness in the wearer. This implies that the face masks would lessen viral spread. But it could also give lesser doses of COVID-19 and hence give rise to herd immunity. It would not affect the wearer badly and also have less potential to lead to death! 

Mechanism of face masks in the prevention of transmission of the COVID-19 virus

When an infected person or an asymptomatic carrier of COVID-19 talks, coughs, sneezes, or breathes, virus-containing droplets are released into the environment. When these reach the other person's nose, mouth, or eyes, it initiates the infection and causes illness in that second person. The mask becomes a physical barrier to catch the virus. Robert F Garry Jr from the department of Microbiology and Immunology at Tulane University School of Medicine states that the face mask can block 40-60% of the droplets. N95 masks can block 95% of the viruses. 

Face masks mechanism of protection [Source: Medium]

The University of California scientists state that the amount of an inoculum decides the fastness and severity of the infection. When the lesser viral load reaches the person, lesser is the infection. A recent hamster study with masks also showed that hamsters with the mask either did not get COVID-19 or got a mild form of it. 

Other supporting data

Epidemiological data from cruise ships and food processing plants with mandatory face masking had more cases of asymptomatic infections. Another published article also stated that with universal face masks, health care providers had antibody tests in blood positive with no symptoms. Also, countries who had public face masking on a larger scale did well as regards severe cases and deaths due to COVID-19. 

Food processing plants [Source: Refrigerated and Frozen Foods]

Hence universal masking will help especially when schools and colleges are reopening amidst the pandemic. The scientists state: 

“Exposing society to SARS-CoV-2 [the virus that causes COVID-19] without the unacceptable consequences of severe illness with public masking could lead to greater community-level immunity and slower spread as we await a vaccine,”

Hence, continue to wear face masks until alternative and better steps to control the pandemic come in. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Morton's toe: Everything you need to know about your longer second toe

-
Image
 Often, one notices that the second toe of some people is longer than the great toe. People say different things for it. Many of them say that it implies that the owner of such a longer second toe is a dominant, creative, energetic person in real life and very ambitious and peace and happiness-loving. But no one has tried to understand the reason, science, medicine and problems of having such a toe. It is called as Morton’s toe or Greek foot.  What is a Greek foot? Many people in the world have a longer second toe of the foot. Such feature may be on one side or in both the feet. It is called Morton’s toe or Greek foot. The other names for it are Morton’s foot or royal toe. But the reason is not the second toe is longer but the fact is that the first metatarsal below the great toe is shorter. Thus it is not due to the faulty phalanges but due to the difference in height of the metatarsals. Since the second metatarsal is relatively longer than the first metatarsal, the joint at ...
Read more

There can be no universal forgiveness! It never exists!

-
Image
Forgiveness or pardon means clearing off the feelings of resentment or revenge towards the offender. In most contexts it implies giving up any expectation of justice. People justify this act of forgiveness from a religious point of view and psychologists justify it as an act that would bring peace to the victim. But my experience tells me that both religion as well as psychologists are absolutely wrong in asking a victim to forgive the evil person. This act is bad from a society point of view and would lead to a rise in crimes and unhappiness. Let me explain in depth with examples. 1. I have a friend in the UK. She is originally from Nigeria. She has two siblings who are married with children and she herself is single and childless. In the year 2009, she had gone to her hometown. There her siblings tortured her physically and mentally and put her under house arrest. They did not want to give her any ancestral property and assets. She managed to free herself with the help of a friend an...
Read more

Voluntary childlessness is on the rise in the world! What are the reasons for it?

-
Image
 The decision of couples to have no children by choice seems tough but is increasing in the modern world. Though society looks down at such couples, the availability of effective and safe contraception and old age support from non-family agencies has made things a bit easier for such decisions to be made.  Reasons for voluntary childlessness 1. Personal reasons such as not wanting responsibilities of a child.  2. The emphasis on career rather than reproduction 3. The lack of desire to forward one's family genes or line due to child abuse.  4. Anguish against existence in general. 5. Non-readiness to give up one's freetime and social time for children rearing 6. Happier to help others raise kids 7. Preferring a pet over a child 8. Not wanting to give up personal space and sharing it with a child.  9. Not happy with child-rearing things such as cleaning up mess, disturbing one's sleep etc. 10. Not particularly fond of children behavior. 11. In some situations, one...
Read more