poto-poto: November 2010

Mount Bromo spews volcanic materials as it erupts

AP Photo 23 hours ago

Mount Bromo spews volcanic materials as it erupts in this aerial shot taken from an Indonesian Air Force airplane that flies over Probolinggo, East Java, Indonesia on Monday, Nov. 29, 2010. The smoking volcano on Indonesia's main island has forced the closure of a local airport after it came back to life last week following a yearlong lull.

FC Barcelona vs Real Madrid 5 - 0

FC Barcelona beat Real Madrid 5 - 0 in Nou Camp.

Pictures from FC Barcelona site

Guangzhou sparkles to the end

BEIJING, Nov. 28 (Xinhuanet) -- It's a roaring success, say the critics, and Guangzhou has every reason to be proud of having hosted one of the best Asian Games ever. The 16th Asian Games has also seen fewer drug abuse cases than in the past, despite athletes setting higher standards and more countries and regions sharing medals, officials said on Saturday.

Only two positive results were returned from 1,400 random doping tests, down from the 16 cases recorded at the Doha Asian Games in 2006.

The Games were well-managed and can be seen as a complete success, they said. The city has also rushed and completed new infrastructure projects in time for the Games.

"Although there were some incidents, like the problems between the two Koreas, and an athlete that used unfair technical equipment in the competition, I can now officially announce that the Guangzhou Asian Games is a success, and one of the best among all the Asian Games," said Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) President Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah.

"My objective criteria is satisfaction all round," said Wei Jizhong, deputy honorary life president of the OCA. "The central, provincial and municipal government, all participants and most of our media friends, are all satisfied. The Guangzhou Asian Games is perfect."

Both senior officials were speaking at a press conference with other members of the OCA and the Guangzhou Asian Games Organizing Committee (GAGOC) to provide a review of the past 16 days.

"Some OCA officials even said that the opening ceremony of the Guangzhou Asian Games was better than that of the Beijing Olympics. The (Athletes') Village and facilities were better than Beijing," said Sheikh Ahmad.

A total of 9,704 athletes from 45 countries and regions, 4,983 team officials, 4,191 technical officials and 9,939 journalists congregated for the largest-ever Asian Games in history.

In all, 28 countries and regions pocketed gold, and 36 took home at least one medal.

As of Friday, three world records were broken, and 12 Asian records were set in swimming and cycling.

Chinese weightlifter Li Ping broke the snatch and total world records in the women's 53kg class on Nov 14, while Korean teenager Kim Woo-jin set a new world record during the qualifying rounds for the men's individual archery event.

The games also gave regional sports a platform on which to shine, thanks to the inclusion of 14 non-Olympic sports.

Meanwhile, all 53 competition venues satisfied the requirements of the OCA, and a vast information security network guarded against thousands of Internet viruses and attacks, said Xu Ruisheng, vice mayor of Guangzhou and deputy executive secretary-general of GAGOC.

Guangzhou will definitely benefit from all these, said Sheikh Ahmad.

"I was here seven years ago. This time, I am seeing new infrastructure and new facilities which helped Guangzhou achieve its goal," he said. "There is also a change in the environment. More green. Guangzhou is now a hub known to more people. The Games added value for Guangzhou and for the development of sport."

The city has built the venues with the aim of better serving its citizens after the Games end, said Xu, adding that authorities spent 6.3 billion yuan ($945 million) on the construction of the venues.

"We now have 53 competition and 17 training venues that can improve sports facilities in Guangzhou," he said.

(Source: China Daily)

Article Source from Xinhuanet

The final medallist of Asian Games 16th Guangzhou

The Final Medal tally of Asian Games 16th Guangzhou

Picture of the Week

Launching of Picture of the Week (First Week)

Indonesia's athletes in Men's 250m Straight Race of Dragon Boat

Picture from official website of 16th Asian Games

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Praise be to Allah Lord of the World 

Peace and blessings of Allah be upon Muhammad

Sex every day is prescription for improving sperm quality

Mark Henderson, Science Editor, in Washington

Men who suffer fertility problems because of low sperm quality may be able to improve their chances of fatherhood by having sex every day, research has suggested.

While those trying for a baby are often told to refrain from ejaculating too often to protect their sperm count, Australian scientists have shown that this can be counterproductive and may lower male fertility.

Among men whose fertility problems stem from genetic damage to their sperm rather than a low sperm count, abstaining from sex can make their difficulties worse, research led by David Greening, of Sydney IVF, has shown.

The pilot study of 42 men whose sperm showed significant DNA damage found that daily ejaculation reduced this by 12 per cent. While the results are preliminary and no direct effect on fertility has yet been measured, they suggest that certain men could benefit from having sex more often, or from abstaining less before providing semen for use in IVF.

Dr Greening, who presented his results at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine conference in Washington yesterday, said: “I’m convinced that ejaculating more frequently, ie daily, improves sperm DNA damage in most men by a decent amount.

“Prior to IVF, for example, men are abstaining a lot more than normal and perhaps sperm DNA increases more than usual. Men think if they abstain for longer times before, say, ovulation that their sperm will be better. [There may be] more volume and numbers but DNA damage may increase.”

Abstaining from sex does increase the number of sperm that are ejaculated, and this has led to advice that couples trying for a baby should have sex every two to three days.

Longer periods of abstinence, however, achieve little because while the quantity of sperm might increase, its quality declines. As sperm is produced, it is stored in the epididymis at the top of the testicle, but the longer it sits there the more damage it accumulates from exposure to free radicals.

Regular ejaculation empties this sperm reservoir, making sure that newly produced sperm of higher genetic quality can get out.

Allan Pacey, a senior lecturer in andrology at the University of Sheffield, said that clearing the reservoir was more important when sperm had high levels of genetic damage. “If you get above 30 to 40 per cent damaged DNA, a man is highly likely to be infertile,” he said. “When you put people on a daily ejaculation regime, it reduces that figure for DNA damage. If you can go from 30 per cent down to 20 per cent that is quite a big shift, that should have implications for fertility.

“There is a trade-off between genetic damage and quantity, so when a couple are first trying to get pregnant a wait of two to three days is probably advisable. But if you are a guy who has high DNA damage and a decent sperm count, it is probably in your interest to ejaculate every day.

“I remember one couple in which the woman would only let the man ejaculate when she was in her fertile period, so the poor chap was going without for almost a month at a time.

“Even leaving aside the frustration that must have caused, it would have had no benefits.

Article quoted from TIME

Healthy sperm: Improving your fertility

By Mayo Clinic staff
Do your sperm pass muster? Despite several months of effort, you and your partner haven't yet conceived. You're not ready to seek a fertility evaluation, but you might be wondering whether you're doing all you can to make sure you have healthy sperm.

Male fertility depends on sperm quality and quantity, which can be affected by a variety of things. While you may not be able to control all the factors that could improve your fertility, there are steps you can take to maximize your fertility and make sure your sperm are top performers.

Your lifestyle and your exposure to certain environmental factors may affect your sperm and your fertility. Here are some things to boost your sperm quality and improve your fertility.

What factors are linked to having healthy sperm?

To achieve its goal, sperm must have three things going for it:

Quantity. You're most likely to be fertile if you have more than 20 million sperm per milliliter of semen. However, researchers are finding that having healthy sperm (the quality) may be just as important as the total amount of sperm you produce. Of the millions of sperm in the ejaculated semen, only about 200 actually reach the egg in a woman's fallopian tube. But, just one is needed to fertilize the egg.
Quality. It's not enough just to have enough. Sperm shape and structure (morphology) are equally important. You are most likely to be fertile if more than one-third of your sperm are of normal shape and structure. A normal sperm has an oval head and a long tail that propel it forward. Sperm with large, small, tapered or crooked heads or kinky, curled or double tails are less likely to fertilize an egg.
Motility. To reach the target, your sperm have to move. Riding the semen wave will only take the sperm so far. To reach the egg, sperm have to move on their own — wriggling and swimming the last few inches to reach and penetrate the egg. Sperm movement (motility) is an important characteristic of healthy sperm. You're most likely to be fertile if at least half of your sperm are moving.

What can you do to produce high-quality sperm?

It takes only one sperm cell to fertilize an egg. With millions of sperm vying for the chance, you'd think each act of intercourse between you and your partner would have excellent odds of resulting in pregnancy. In fact, it may take many attempts before you succeed, even if you're both healthy and your timing is right — that is, you have sex in the days leading up to ovulation when the egg is released from the ovary.
Here's what you can do to increase your chance of contributing enough hardy, energetic sperm to get the job done.

Take a multivitamin. A daily multivitamin can help provide selenium, zinc and folic acid — trace nutrients that are important for optimal sperm production and function.
Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables. These foods are rich in antioxidants, which may help improve sperm health.
Reduce stress. Stress might interfere with certain hormones needed to produce sperm. Stress can also decrease sexual function.
Get regular exercise. Physical activity is good for reproductive health as well as your overall health. But don't overdo it. Men who exercise to exhaustion show a temporary change in hormone levels and a drop in sperm quality.
Watch your weight. Too much or too little body fat may disrupt production of reproductive hormones, which can reduce your sperm count and increase your percentage of abnormal sperm. You're most likely to produce lots of high-quality sperm if you maintain a healthy weight

Caution: Hazardous to sperm

Even under the best circumstances, only 50 to 70 percent of a man's sperm are healthy enough to fertilize an egg. Sperm can be especially vulnerable to environmental factors, such as exposure to excessive heat or toxic chemicals. To protect your fertility:

Watch out for toxins. Experts think certain workplace and household substances might have an effect on sperm quantity and quality. These include heavy metals used in industrial workplaces, pesticides and chemicals in solvents. Use protective clothing, proper ventilation and face masks to reduce the risk of absorbing such toxins.
Quit using tobacco. The sperm of men who smoke may be misshapen and may move more slowly than those of nonsmokers. Smoking can also damage your sperm's DNA. Experts suspect such damage could even affect a baby's growth and development and increase a child's chance of having certain health problems, including cancer. And chewing tobacco isn't safe either — it also may cause low sperm counts and damage. As if that weren't enough, tobacco use can increase erectile dysfunction. Research shows men who both smoke and drink alcohol have lower sperm counts and motility than do men with either habit alone.
Limit alcohol. Heavy drinking may reduce the quality and quantity of sperm. Limit alcohol to no more than one or two drinks a day. The combination of tobacco and alcohol is particularly harmful.
Steer clear of illicit drugs. Marijuana can decrease sperm density and motility and increase the number of abnormal sperm. Cocaine and opiates can contribute to erectile dysfunction, and amphetamines can decrease sex drive.
Skip the tub. To maximize the quality and quantity of your sperm, avoid hot tubs and baths. Spending more than 30 minutes in water 102 F (40 C) or above may lower your sperm count. Saunas and steam rooms may have a similar effect.
Avoid hormone havoc. Anabolic steroids, usually taken illegally, can shrink the testicles and drastically reduce fertility. Anti-androgens used to treat prostate enlargement and cancer interfere with sperm production. Testosterone supplements also decrease fertility.
Stay cool. Increased scrotal temperature can hurt sperm production. Experts know that hot work environments, tight underpants, prolonged sitting and use of laptop computers can all increase scrotal temperature. They are still studying how these activities affect fertility.
Avoid lubricants during sex. Personal lubricants, lotions and even saliva can interfere with sperm motility. However, vegetable-oil-based lubricants are okay.

Medications and fertility

Many medications can reduce your fertility. Medications that may affect fertility include:

Medications to control a chronic condition such as high blood pressure, inflammatory bowel disease or gout, or to suppress your immune reaction to a transplanted organ. Ask your doctor how your treatment may affect sperm development.
Chemotherapy drugs. These medications can cause permanent infertility. So can radiation treatment for cancer. If you'll be undergoing cancer treatment, talk with your doctor about saving and freezing your sperm (semen cryopreservation) before treatment.

Separating fact from fiction

A number of myths have made the rounds in recent years, including groundless rumors that menthol cigarettes and certain soft drinks can make men sterile. Here are some that turn out to be true:

Fact: Bicycling can sabotage the system. Sitting on a bicycle saddle for more than 30 minutes at a time — especially if you also wear tight bicycle shorts — may raise your scrotal temperature and affect sperm production. In addition, prolonged cycling can cause genital numbness — a sign of damage to delicate nerves and arteries. Choose a seat that's not too hard or narrow, and make sure it's adjusted to keep weight on your "sit bones." Take frequent rests while biking.
Fact: Pollution affects sperm. Experts think environmental toxins may have something to do with falling sperm counts. One culprit may be estrogen-like chemicals widely used in agriculture and industry. These substances are found in places ranging from drinking water to household products. Other environmental toxins that might affect male fertility are growth hormones present in meat.
Fact: The flu slows sperm production. An illness that causes a fever can affect sperm production and sperm quality. But it won't affect fertility for two to three months, since it takes sperm 75 days to mature.
Fact: The calendar also matters to men. Sperm counts are higher in the winter and lower in the summer. This may be because cooler temperatures are associated with increased sperm production. Sperm counts are also higher in the morning than at other times of day. However, experts aren't sure that time of day or time of year makes a notable difference in fertility.

Adopting healthy lifestyle practices to preserve your fertility — and avoiding things that can damage it — may improve your and your partner's chances of conceiving a child. But you still may not become a father on your first — or even 51st — try. If you and your partner haven't achieved a pregnancy after a year of unprotected intercourse, see your doctor and get a semen analysis. About 25 percent of couples have trouble conceiving at some point, and this number increases with age. Forty percent of infertility can be traced to the man alone, but often it's a combination of both the man and woman. A fertility specialist can identify the cause of the problem and provide treatments that may help place you and your partner on the road to parenthood.

Article quoted from MayoClinic.com

Update Medallist per 27 November 2010

Medallist updated before the closing ceremony of the 16th Asian Games

pictures from official website of the 16th Asian Games

Indonesia wins Men's 250m Straight Race gold in Dragon Boat

Indonesia won the gold medal in Men's 250m Straight Race Dragon Boat at the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou on November 20.


Indonesia's athletes in Men's 250m Straight Race of Dragon Boat

Indonesia be the winner in all games of race of dragon boat after got 3 gold medalist. The 3rd medalist has been got from the men's 250m straight race.

Indonesian's the Dragon Boat team collected totally 3 golds and 3 silver medalist. The men's dragon boat team be the winner in 1000m, 500m and 250m. While, the women's dragon boat team won 3 silver medalist.

Picture from official website of 16th Asian Games

Indonesian Men's Double Badminton Player Got the Asian Games's Gold Medalist

Markis Kido / Hendra Setiawan after defeating the Malaysian men's double player Koo Kien Keat/ Tan Boon Heong in the final Men doubles badminton in Asian Games XVI Guang Zhou 2010.

Picture from Antara

The Mecca Scene

An aerial picture shows Mecca Clock Royal Tower hotel (R), topped by the biggest clock in the world with a 45 meters diameter, which overlooks the Grand Mosque in the holy city of Mecca on November 17, 2010 as more than two million Muslim pilgrims launched into the final rituals of the hajj ahead of their massive exodus from Islam's holiest city.