Wildebeest Migration Circuit - Why The Serengeti Is Popular

Serengeti National park is the most famous park in Tanzania. Serengeti is a Masai word which means "Endless Plains". The park, which is about 15,000 square kilometers was conserved to preserve the path of the spectacular wildebeest migration circuit. Tourists from all corners of the world visit the park to witness the wildebeest annual migration spectacle.

This migration involves over 1.5 million wild animals and watching them is an experience of a lifetime. This migration movement include a large herd of wildebeest, zebra, antelope and gazelle. The wildebeest migrate to this park each year in search of green pastures and quality water. Countless thundering hooves of the wildebeest produce massive clouds of dust in the sky. You will certainly see the big cats hunt for food in the plains at a close distance. These cats include the lion, leopard, cheetah and the hyena.

Camping in the Serengeti is the best and cheapest way to prepare for the greatest wildlife migration spectacle in East Africa. You could choose to stay at the Serengeti or the Masai Mara in Kenya. It will also be a great experience especially to those visitors who enjoy camping and outdoor activities. Spending your holiday in the Serengeti Plains, with the thunder of hooves in the background and away from home will be the greatest reward in your life. Apart from these spectacle, Your only other companion at this time will be the birds, insects, roaring lions and animal sounds that you may not recognize as a first time visitor. You will see the movies on TV in reality.

Due to the large numbers of people visiting the Serengeti park, various lodges and camps have been set at various places to cater for accommodation during the wildebeest migration period. There are also mobile camps available in the park. These mobile camps are moved to different locations within the park depending with the migration of the wildlife across the Serengeti plains. Most camping trips are accompanied by a cook and an experienced tour guide.

There is also a beautiful lodge located near lake Ndutu in the south-eastern side of the Serengeti park. The lodge is built with local materials facing the lake. This is an excellent place to view the migration especially during the calving season. The lodge is surrounded by different tree species which attract many birds. The trees provide shade to the wildlife especially on hot days.

Another camp is located on the western side of Serengeti just near the Ngurumeti river. The lush river line forest is home to the rare black and white colobus monkey which are found nowhere else in the park. This remote side of the park is characterized by hills, rivers and flood plains which is an ideal home to a variety of wild animals.

In the south-east of Serengeti park, there is a beautiful lodge built on a hill. This lodge is the only tourism development in this side of the park. From this lodge, you can clearly view the great migration. You can drive around the park or view the wildlife on a hot air balloon.

A safari to the Serengeti National park will include a tour to the Ngorongoro conservation area. The Ngorongoro crater which resulted from a caldera is considered as the 8th natural wonder of the world. The crater has a variety of vegetation and lakes which attracts many wildlife species. The Masai community who have lived peacefully with the wild animals for years are the only people who are allowed to graze.

Jackline Mwathe Is A Tour Operator And Has Been Organizing And Reporting On Africa Vacation, Travel And Tour For Years. For more information on African Tourism, visit her site at WILDEBEEST MIGRATION CIRCUIT

CDC Study on Birth Defects Implicates Popular Fertility Drug

On November 26, 2010, the medical journal, Human Reproduction, published online the results of a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which found that the fertility drug, Clomid (clomiphene citrate), was associated with a significant increased risk for 9 different types of birth defects following use of the popular drug.

The implicated abnormalities included a 130% increased risk for anencephaly (open cranium with absence of a brain); a 130% increased risk for esophageal atresia (closed esophagus); a 120% increased risk for omphalocele (protrusion of part of the intestine through the abdominal wall); a 90% increased risk for craniosynostosis (premature fusion of the skull bones); increased risks for 3 different types of heart defects, ranging between 60% and 390%; and an increased risk of 340% for a defect of the brain (Dandy Walker malformation). The ninth defect (cloacal exstrophy) involves multiple defects of the gastrointestinal and genitourinary tracts, and the study reported a 440% increased risk for this severe congenital abnormality.

Drawing on 8 years of data from the National Birth Defects Prevention Study, CDC epidemiologist Dr. Jennita Reefhuis and her colleagues compared the drug's exposure to 36 types of birth defects with 6,500 live born babies born without major birth anomalies, used as controls. No less than 22 of the remaining 27 birth defect categories likewise showed an increased risk, ranging from 10% up to 170% after exposure to Clomid, although the numbers were insufficient to reach the scientific standard for "statistical significance."

The FDA is now faced with a dilemma which will be more difficult to side-step. The agency had previously ignored preliminary findings from the CDC study, which reported in July 2008 that exposure to Clomid was associated with an increased risk of developing 4 different types of birth defects - a list that has now grown to nine. The purported justification for challenging these findings was that they had not yet been reported in a journal.

But earlier studies appearing in peer-reviewed journals involving the same drug have likewise been ignored. These include reports of an increased risk of craniosynostosis in 2003 (Reefhuis, et al.); an increased risk of neural tube defects in 2004 (Medveczky, et al.); an increased risk of penoscrotal hypospadias in 2006 (Meijer, et al.); an increased risk of spina bifida in 2006 (Wu, et al.); and an increased risk of neural tube defects when ovarian cysts are produced by the drug, in 2008 (Banhidy, et al.). Since anencephaly (involving the cranium) and spina bifida (involving the spine) are both neural tube defects (NTDs), there are now 4 studies involving an association between Clomid and NTDs published in the last 6 years - none of which have motivated the FDA to require a warning.

In December 2007, a citizen petition was filed with the FDA demanding, among other things, that the regulatory agency require the manufacturers of Clomid and its generic to include a birth defect warning in the drugs' labeling. After sitting on the petition for a year and 9 months, the FDA denied the request. However, in October 2009, a petition for reconsideration was filed, citing multiple errors in the reasoning of the FDA's ruling. Fourteen more months have now passed without a final decision - a delay which has provided a window of opportunity for presentation of the recent findings by the CDC.

Will the FDA also ignore an official study by another branch of the federal government? After 43 years on the market, will the users of this popular fertility drug finally be warned about the potential risks to the babies they so desperately desire? Stay tuned, as this saga continues to unfold. For anyone interested in the debated exchanges over the citizen petition, I would encourage you to go to http://www.regulations.gov and enter the docket number of FDA-2007-P-0234. In addition to a debate over the science on the issue, these filings reflect an agency determined to maintain the status quo, rather than acquiesce to the mandate of federal law to require warnings of potential serious adverse reactions to drugs.

Time will tell whether the FDA is committed to protecting the general public or, instead, the interests of the industry it is required to regulate.

Terence Mix is a trial attorney who spent over 2 1/2 decades successfully litigating fertility drug cases on behalf of malformed babies. He is a former president of the Los Angeles Trial Lawyers Association and spent 12 years on the Board of Governors of California Trial Lawyers Association. He is a legal author and lecturer on trial techniques and strategies, including the trial of drug product cases, which was his specialty for over 30 years. He is a former biographee in Who's Who in California (1983) and Who's Who in American Law (1985). He has recently completed a nonfiction book: "THE PRICE OF OVULATION: The Truth about Fertility Drugs and Birth Defects - and a Solution to the Problem." During the course of researching the book, he reviewed in excess of 1000 scientific papers on the subject. He has also testified in front of the FDA on the topic of fertility drugs and birth defects. www.terencemix.com

From Iron To Steel - The History Of Iron And Why It's So Popular In Wrought Iron Designs And Decor

Most of what we learn in high school history about Thomas

Edison is all about his successful inventions. Thomas Edison

electricity, the phonograph, and on and on.

We know that Thomas Edison held over 1,093 patents for

a number of different types of inventions. What we don't know or we very seldom hear is about his failures. One of the most noted failures was his inability to find an

effective way to mine iron ore.

Iron is the cheapest and most common metal available for

mining. Iron is used for making steel. Steel, at the time

that Edison was working on his invention, was very expensive.

The world now and during the life of Edison is very dependent

on steel.

If Edison was successful in creating the extraction process

he would have earned billions of dollars in income,

The possibilities that would extend from that success

would also create millions of jobs, and spur other

inventions.

Iron is useless in its pure form. Iron is brittle and cannot be used to manufacture any products because of this

and other characteristics. Iron in its pure form is a

silver color. The gray that we see in iron comes from

combining iron with oxygen. But iron is not adaptable to

any practical applications on its own.

That is why the discovery of an effective extraction process

was important. Edison worked on this extraction process

from 1880 to 1890. For over ten years, he performed experiments,

hired scientist, and other experts to perfect his extraction

process. The impetus was to provide iron ore to the Pennsylvania

steel mills.

Edison moved his office from a comfortable building to actually

work in the old iron mines to find an economical process to satisfy

the insatiable demands for steel . The testing and processing of

his experiments was very expensive. To finance his invention

Edison sold all his stock in General Electric. His heirs still

regret that to this day.

Edison was never able to find a way to extract the iron from unusable,

low grade ores. Edison eventually abandoned the project. He never

recouped his money that he had invested. Fortunately for Edison,

he continued his work on the phonograph and motion pictures,

and remained financially intact.

Finding a cheaper way to produce steel was not only important to the

financial enhancement of Edison but important to the American

economy. After 1840 the American iron industry was experiencing

a revitalization but American was not the major steel producer in

the world.

In 1844, government surveyors found a large iron ore deposit of

anthracite in the Great Lakes area. Pennsylvania became the nation's

leading supplier of iron and steel. With the discovery of the rich

iron ore around Lake Superior and the ability to transport the

bounty the mine produce by water, Pennsylvania became the center

of American iron and steel production.

British engineer Henry Bessemer perfected a steel extraction

process. He completed the work that Thomas Edison had started.

Bessemer developed an iron smelting process that made it possible

to produce large quantities of steel. Some manufacturers of steel

use his process to this day.

The invention was an economical and an efficient process to make

steel from iron ore. But a better process was introduced

By Abram S. Hewitt who became a steel magnate that rivaled

Andrew Carnegie was the first American to try the Bessemer

process. He then improved on the process to develop the

the open-hearth converter. American steel makers preferred

the process of Hewitt to that of Bessemer.

The low cost of steel production after this discovery

changed the balance for American industries. American

Industry could now lead the world in steel production.

In 1873 the United States, produced nearly 115,000

tons of steel. As the price of steel continued to drop,

It was possible to use steel in several industries.

Over 70% of the finished steel that is produced in

the United states goes to automotive industry.

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