The site provides Real Estate news, guidance, and information for both real estate agents and home owners. Covering topics such as construction, mortgage advice and much more. Let us guide you in your real estate decisions.
This autumnal-inspired smoothie bowl is the perfect cross-over for the late summer sunshine and the cooler September days. A thick and creamy fruit and vegetable-packed breakfast bowl or smoothie that packs lots of warming, cosy flavours and is full of nutrition. My social feeds seem to be covered with pumpkin pie spiced recipes at the […]
President Trump’s third address to the United Nations General Assembly was an unmistakably nationalist one, with the president reiterating the theme of his foreign policy doctrine, that all nations should be looking inward and considering their own interests first. In a sober, scripted speech Tuesday, he focused more on criticizing other nations that he believes…
Kick start the first week of Fall than with a delicious vegan and gluten-free pumpkin smoothie bowl! Read More → The post Ring in the Fall with a delicious pumpkin smoothie appeared first on The Art of Being Fabulous.
via Ring in the Fall with a delicious pumpkin smoothie — The Art of Being Fabulous
US doctors are hoping to start offering women vaginal fluid transplants and have set up a programme to screen potential donors.
They believe some women could benefit from a dose of healthy vaginal microbes to protect against an infection called bacterial vaginosis (BV).
The Johns Hopkins University team say they were inspired by the success of faecal or poo transplants.
Although antibiotics can treat BV, it often comes back.
BV is not a sexually transmitted disease, despite being an infection.
It’s quite common and women who have it may notice that they have an unusual discharge that has a strong fishy smell.
The condition is not usually serious, but should be treated because having BV makes women more vulnerable to catching sexually transmitted infections and getting urinary infections.
If the woman is pregnant, it increases the risk of her having the baby early.
BV can happen when there is a change in the natural balance of bacteria in the vagina.
The vagina, like the gut, is home to lots of different microorganisms.
Our diets, lifestyles and some types of medication that we may take can upset this finely balanced ecosystem.
While there has been a large amount of work into the gut microbiome, less is known about the vagina.
Experts known that healthy microorganisms in the vagina prefer an acidic environment, and when the pH becomes too alkaline other bacteria – including those that cause BV – can thrive.
A number of factors can raise vaginal pH and make BV more likely, including having sex (semen and saliva are slightly alkaline) and using douches or vaginal washes, as well as hormonal changes at particular times of the month during a woman’s menstrual cycle.
The researchers have been looking at what makes a fit, safe donation in preparation for starting to offer women with BV the transplants – which they hope to do soon now that they have regulatory approval from the Food and Drugs Administration.
They screened a small number of volunteers and have reported their findings in the journal Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology.
Based on the 20 women they have tested, the researchers say they have gained some insights into what might make an “ideal” donor.
Vaginal fluid samples dominated by a bacterium called Lactobacillus crispatus tended to have higher protective lactic acid content and a lower pH which might be beneficial, they say.
As a precaution, donors would be asked to abstain from sex for at least 30 days before giving a sample and would be screened for any infections, including HIV, to prevent them being passed on to any recipient, they add.
One of the researchers, Dr Laura Ensign, said: “The donation is a self collection, which we know people tend to prefer.”
The woman inserts and then removes a flexible plastic disc – similar to a menstrual cup or a contraceptive diaphragm – to collect the sample.
“It’s quick and easy and one sample collected like that would be enough material to make one dose for transfer,” she said.
It would be drawn up into an applicator for the recipient to insert in a similar way to a tampon.
Dr Ensign said: “If we can get funding, we could start right away. Some of the donors that we studied said they would want to take part.
“We’d plan to give transplants to 40 recipients to begin with. Some would receive the real thing and others a placebo. All of them would get antibiotics for their BV too though.”
China is planning to exempt 16 types of US products from additional retaliatory tariffs, including whey and fish meal, according to a statement from the Ministry of Finance.
The exemption on US export goods from import tariffs will take effect on 17 September and will be valid for a year. The move comes ahead of a new round of trade talks scheduled for later this month.
American football star Antonio Brown has been accused of rape by his former personal trainer.
Britney Taylor, who decided to forgo her right to anonymity, said Mr Brown sexually assaulted her on three occasions, according to a civil lawsuit she filed.
He has denied the allegations. Mr Brown’s new team, the New England Patriots, said that The National Football League (NFL) was also launching an investigation.
The complaint says that the two met at a bible study class in 2010. Mr Brown later hired Ms Taylor, who is a gymnast, in 2017, to improve his flexibility.
However, according to the lawsuit, he sexually assaulted her twice in training sessions in June 2017, and she stopped working with him.
The lawsuit reads that Mr Brown “reached out to Ms Taylor, expressing contrition, begging forgiveness and pleading with her to train him again”. It says she reluctantly agreed but in May 2018 he raped her.
“Mr Brown denies each and every allegation in the lawsuit”, his lawyer, Darren Heitner, said in a statement. “He will pursue all legal remedies to not only clear his name but to also protect other professional athletes against false accusations.”
The body of Robert Mugabe has left Singapore on a private flight destined for his home country of Zimbabwe.
The former president had been receiving hospital treatment in the city state before he died last week aged 95. Mr Mugabe was Zimbabwe’s first leader after becoming independent in 1980. He held on to power for almost four decades before being ousted in a coup in 2017.
He will be buried on Sunday after a state funeral on Saturday. A hearse carrying Mr Mugabe’s body left a Singapore funeral parlour, accompanied by police motorbikes, bound for the airport on Wednesday morning.
The specially chartered flight carrying Mr Mugabe’s body is expected to land in his home country at 15:00 (13:00 GMT), family members told Reuters news agency. Mr Mugabe is then expected to lie in state at Rufaro Stadium, in Mbare township in Harare, where he once took the oath of office.
His official state funeral will take place at the 60,000-seat venue.Mr Mugabe’s final resting place remains unclear amid reports of disagreements between his family and President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government.
Robert Mugabe’s nephew has said the former Zimbabwean leader died a “very bitter” man.
Mr Mugabe, who died aged 95 last week, led Zimbabwe for nearly four decades until he was ousted by a coup in 2017. “Imagine people you trusted – people that were guarding you, looking after you – [turning] against you,” Leo Mugabe said.
“He was very bitter and it dented his legacy,” he told the BBC from his uncle’s rural home. “It was not an easy thing for him to take,” he added.
Initially praised for broadening access to health and education for the black majority, Mr Mugabe later used violence against his political opponents and presided over Zimbabwe’s economic ruin. He was removed from office after he fired his deputy, with many fearing he was preparing for his wife , Grace Mugabe, to succeed him.
His former deputy, Emmerson Mnangagwa, then became president after the army intervened and forced Mr Mugabe to step down. The long-serving president’s legacy has been the subject of fierce debate since he died.
Mr Mugabe’s death at a hospital in Singapore on Friday followed a long illness. He had been receiving medical care in the city since April.
It is the silliest thing to be now, to believe that my personal obedience, which is still expected, by the way, is what would make me righteous. That it somehow is more necessary and powerful than what Christ has already done on that Cross… That it would save me, or even keep me saved. The system of religion I left believed that their ideals of Holiness (which is code for dress standard) would not save a person, but in the absence of obedience to them, a person couldn’t be or stay saved.
THE JFT EDIT 